LeBron James‘ big block of a shot by Indiana Pacers star Victor Oladipo at the end of Game 5 should have resulted in a goaltending call, the NBA acknowledged Thursday.
The NBA noted in its Last Two Minute Report that referees missed the call when James blocked Oladipo’s shot after the ball made contact with the backboard.
The play was not reviewed, and James went on to hit a buzzer-beating 3 that gave the Cleveland Cavaliers a 98-95 victory and a 3-2 series lead.
After the game, Oladipo said goaltending should have been called. That would have given Indiana a two-point lead with seconds remaining.
“I got a step on him. Felt like I even got grabbed on the way to the rim,” Oladipo said. “I tried to shoot a layup, it hit the backboard, then he blocked it. … It was a goaltend. It’s hard to even speak on it. It just sucks, honestly. It really sucks. We fought our way back, we tied the game up, that layup is huge.”
Joe Borgia, the NBA’s senior vice president of replay and referee operations, told NBA TV on Wednesday night that the play was not reviewable because goaltending was not called on the court.
“In super-slow motion, you just see the ball hit the glass and maybe come off an inch, and that’s when LeBron got it,” Borgia said. “Like I said, once the ball touches the [backboard], defenders cannot touch it, and unfortunately James did.”
The Last Two Minute Report also noted a missed call that benefited the Pacers, saying the referees erred when they gave the ball to Indiana with 27.6 seconds left. On the play, the Pacers’ Thaddeus Young deflected the ball away from James and it landed out of bounds, but the refs failed to blow the whistle. The ball then bounced off James’ arm and landed out of bounds again, with refs whistling the play dead this time and giving the ball to the Pacers.
James, who had 44 points and finished two assists shy of a triple-double, smiled when asked about his final defensive play.
“I definitely thought it was a goaltend,” James said with a laugh. “Of course I didn’t think it was a goaltend. I try to make plays like that all the time, and I mean he made a heck of a move, got me leaning right and he went left and I just tried to use my recovery speed and get back up there and make a play on the ball. And I was able to make a play.”
Although James’ 3-pointer would have been enough for a Cavaliers victory regardless of Oladipo’s attempted layup, the non-call still didn’t sit well with the Pacers.
“Give him credit where credit is due. The 3 was big-time. Definitely huge,” Oladipo said. “But who’s to say they even run that play? We don’t know what happens. It’s unfortunate. It really sucks that they missed that [goaltending call].”
“We can look at the replay,” Pacers forward Lance Stephenson said. “Clearly, clearly a goaltending.”
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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