The Bulls went into Cleveland on Thursday and pulled out a hard-fought win over the Cavaliers. It was a low-scoring, defensive struggle, as neither team shot the ball very well, so it's not surprising that the game came down to the final play. LeBron James drove to the basket with three seconds left and his team trailing by one, and was met by two defenders when he got there -- Luol Deng, who was guarding him from the play's outset, and Joakim Noah, who came over to help at the last second. James appeared to jump into Noah, and there was definitely contact. But somewhat incredibly, the refs swallowed their whistles, and the Bulls won the game.
Was it the right call? Read on and judge for yourself.
The action starts at the 2:25 mark:
It's not that I necessarily think that a foul should have been called there, and in fact, I'm of the opinion that the refs should let the players decide the game whenever possible, and only intervene in the closing seconds if the call is an obvious one.
But watching this as it happened, I think anyone who's seen LeBron drive like that and get contact on the final possession was stunned to see the officials not blow the whistle. LeBron, like most of the game's biggest stars, will historically get that call 98 times out of 100, even if it's a questionable one.
Mike Brown's discussion of the no-call seemed to back up the officials, although he believed that Noah might have been still on the move when the contact was made.
"I still don't understand that rule," Brown said. "I thought [LeBron] drove the ball, and Noah came across the paint, and as he came across the paint he jumped. I understand the rule of verticality as if you're in the spot, and you jump straight up and somebody runs into you, then it's a no-call.
"But I've got to find out if you're going across the lane and you meet somebody on the other side ... I don't know."
Fortunately in this case, the refs did know, and appeared to make the correct call. It will be interesting to see if the early-season trend of the officials favoring the rules over the game's stars will continue as the season goes on.
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
live with it James!, you do nothing but drive into people, run over people, and travel, besides being a poor sport loser!, try to take it like a man someday ya whiner!!!!!
LBJ is one of the greatest to play the game. What is more important here is Cleveland should not have been behind in this game. Re-group and play harder. Looks like Shaq is still trying to find himself, while Varejo looked great. Go Cavs and LeBron!
He should have attempted a shot. Lame trying to go for the foul.
Cleveland shouldn't have even had the ball in the first place. The refs incorrectly called a 24-second clock violation on Chicago with three seconds left. On the replay, you could clearly see the ball slightly change direction as it grazed the rim. Chicago got the rebound and the game should have been over. Cleveland needs to stop crying, because that last possession was an undeserved gift and Chicago is the team that got ripped off.
The Cavaliers continue to be the most immature and unprofessional team in the NBA, including their leader LBJ along with the rest of the team whom he labels as his "supporting cast". Tell me, has this league ever had anyone this egotistical and self-centered?
I'm a Bulls fan and I also love James. But, if James jumped into Noah, then what's the beef? The foul would have been on James, no?