NBA Gifts Cleveland A 2-2 Series Instead Of A 3-1 Deficit!

[ILLINOISLION]

Bulls ties it with under ten seconds left, Cleveland then misses a shot under the Bulls basket with .8 seconds left. Cleveland ball.

BUT WAIT:

1) Cleveland tried to call a timeout coming down the court, all THREE officials missed it, should have been a technical free throw for the Bulls because Cleveland had no timeouts left.

BUT WAIT AGAIN:

2) Cleveland gets a "timeout" anyway because the officials take almost two minutes to decide the clock should be set to 1.5 seconds, not .8 seconds. With their "timeout" Cleveland sets up a play, executes it, James hits a buzzer-beating game (and probable series) winner.

Guess they didn't want to review the eight seconds before the ball went out of bounds and call a technical on the Cleveland bench for trying to call the timeout. Yeah, I know, they can't.....but why have instant replay for only some plays and not others? Why be tied into a central NBA review center if they don't help get it right? Why is a replay in the last two minutes more important than not replaying a controversial call earlier in the game? Why shouldn't a team have to stay on the floor during a review?

Why Why Why Why ????

 

[Blueblood4eva]

Follow the money. Fans get ripped off again.

 

[pandaczar12]

There is still an NBA!?!?!?!

 

[70Sixers]

There is still an NBA!?!?!?!

Why wouldn't there be?

 

[kgilbert78]

I was listening this morning. Cleveland *tried* to set up a play but LeBron vetoed the coach and just asked for the ball.

 

[pandaczar12]

Why wouldn't there be?

Basketball in general is the most boring sport known to man. People who for some reason like basketball, seem to prefer college. There just seems to be no need for the NBA.

 

[simons96]

Basketball in general is the most boring sport known to man. People who for some reason like basketball, seem to prefer college. There just seems to be no need for the NBA.

not to hijack this thread, but another failing of the NBA that THANK GOD they are fixing is the "Hack a Whoever" nonsense

the Clippers/Rockets game last night, from a purist standpoint and as entertainment, was likely THE WORST professional basketball game I have ever suffered through.

 

[PSURAHJ]

I was listening this morning. Cleveland *tried* to set up a play but LeBron vetoed the coach and just asked for the ball.

David Blatt is in over his head, it appears. His assistants saved him on the timeout call and then he wants LBJ to inbound the ball on that last play when he actually had time to draw up a play? Clearly his staff and players are helping him ease into this NBA coaching transition. This makes me wonder about the quality of coaching in Euro basketball.

My father-in-law who has no dog in this fight wondered out loud how LBJ didn't get the foul call on that last drive before the ball goes out of bounds. If the refs really wanted to they could've no called LBJ's offensive foul on Dunleavy and/or called Noah on the foul on LBJ. He doesn't seem to get a lot of superstar calls that Kobe, MJ, or even James Harden got.

In the end, LBJ made a great shot just as Paul Pierce did on Saturday and Rose on Friday. What a great weekend of hoops!

 

[Obliviax]

R U kidding me? Did you see the two bulls try to intentionally foul James with 15 seconds left only to get an offensive foul called? Did you see Noah hammer James under the basket with 1.5 seconds left (the reason why the refs took so long is that they couldn't believe they all missed that call). Even the announcers couldn't believe those two calls.

 

[royboy]

R U kidding me? Did you see the two bulls try to intentionally foul James with 15 seconds left only to get an offensive foul called? Did you see Noah hammer James under the basket with 1.5 seconds left (the reason why the refs took so long is that they couldn't believe they all missed that call). Even the announcers couldn't believe those two calls.

Agree....it was a hectic last minute, but I thought Cavs deserved the win

 

[simons96]

by focusing on the last few seconds, we're really taking away from the difference of the game:

Mozgov and Thompson both had a PHENOMENAL game. combined they were 9-11 FG, 9-10 FT, 27 pts, 16 rebounds. and they played tough interior D all game. I watched a stretch in the 2nd quarter where the Bulls missed like 7 shots in a row, the refs didn't do that

Rose was 11-23 FG, but the rest of the starting 5 were 15-47. credit the Cavs for tight D all game

 

[royboy]

by focusing on the last few seconds, we're really taking away from the difference of the game:

Mozgov and Thompson both had a PHENOMENAL game. combined they were 9-11 FG, 9-10 FT, 27 pts, 16 rebounds. and they played tough interior D all game. I watched a stretch in the 2nd quarter where the Bulls missed like 7 shots in a row, the refs didn't do that

Rose was 11-23 FG, but the rest of the starting 5 were 15-47. credit the Cavs for tight D all game

Yeah, this was good gut-it-out playoff basketball.
The Cavs had Kyrie playing with a hurt foot, still adjusting to loss of Kevin Love, LeBron shoots 10-30, on the road and down 2-1, and still they found a way to win.

There are some very entertaining series going on, with Memphis up on Golden State, and the Clippers playing well. NBA basketball is not for everybody, but there is a lot to like about the action.

 

[PSUriseANDfire]

Agree....it was a hectic last minute, but I thought Cavs deserved the win

And LeBron had to make the shot also. They missed the timeout obviously. That was human error. No way they make that error intentionally expecting the Cavs to have a miraculous game winner so they could "fix" it. That's a hell of a thing to miss on a 1/100 gamble @ the risk of everyone considering all the officials idiots. They just missed it. Officiating is terrible everywhere and always has been. The things we have access to now just help to put it all on full display.

 

[MohawkLion]

Bulls fans complaining about yesterday's game are delusional. Dunleavy's flop. Noah's hack foul on that last drive. BS charge calls. You can blame the refs not seeing Blatt's TO due to crowd noise. I was at the game. I mean, Lebron getting up after turning his ankle and the fans boo'ing? Pathetic. Bulls fans have zero right to complain about anything considering how bad the officiating has been for both teams. Not to mention, you want to say the Bulls could be up 3-1? So could the Cavs. Just shut up and enjoy the series.

 

[simons96]

Bulls fans complaining about yesterday's game are delusional. Dunleavy's flop. Noah's hack foul on that last drive. BS charge calls. You can blame the refs not seeing Blatt's TO due to crowd noise. I was at the game. I mean, Lebron getting up after turning his ankle and the fans boo'ing? Pathetic. Bulls fans have zero right to complain about anything considering how bad the officiating has been for both teams. Not to mention, you want to say the Bulls could be up 3-1? So could the Cavs. Just shut up and enjoy the series.

omg I was a huge Bulls fan during the Jordan/Pippen/Phil Jackson era, so I say this as a former fan . . . the crowd yesterday was pathetic. my g/f was laughing when Butler CLEARLY tipped in a ball that was still in the cylinder and got called for basket interference, the crowd booed, then the replay was shown that it was clear BI, then the crowd booed and moaned with fake outrage . . . and I threw an empty plastic water bottle at the screen and yelled, "Oh jeez STFU already!"

I also openly despise Joakim Noah. I think he is one of the dirtiest players in the league.

 

[MohawkLion]

The best was Lebron's final shot. The arena erupted after Lebron's shot, only to realize, "Oh wait, it went in, we shouldn't be cheering." And then it just went quiet. It was hilarious.

 

[dawgduice]

Well, I have no horse in this race and I did not watch most of the game. To be fair there were a TON of "weak" calls or no-calls late in the game. Have to say James is really amazing. You do realize he gets "fouled" on a great many plays (not-called) AND he commits fouls not called against him NO ONE wants a star to foul out. That has been the RULE for "stars" as long as there has been an NBA.

 

[PSUriseANDfire]

You do realize he gets "fouled" on a great many plays (not-called) AND he commits fouls not called against him NO ONE wants a star to foul out. That has been the RULE for "stars" as long as there has been an NBA.

Yeah. LeBron gets calls that superstars always have and always will get. It's like that even down to the lower levels of basketball. Greatness is given the benefit of the doubt in every sport usually.

His size, strength and supernatural athletic ability also are a reason why calls get missed on him. Things that would cause other people to hit the floor don't even make him flinch sometimes.

 

[simons96]

SBNation just annihilates Skip Bayless over his LBJ hating "clutch" tweets

LINK

 

[joeparules]

Basketball in general is the most boring sport known to man. People who for some reason like basketball, seem to prefer college. There just seems to be no need for the NBA.

+100000000 I could maybe name three NBA players and that is only from over-hearing someone else talk about them. I was a huge fan back in the Bird/Magic/Jordan/Barkley days, but now I can't stand watching this garbage league with their less-than-role-model players!

 

[PSUriseANDfire]

+100000000 I could maybe name three NBA players and that is only from over-hearing someone else talk about them. I was a huge fan back in the Bird/Magic/Jordan/Barkley days, but now I can't stand watching this garbage league with their less-than-role-model players!

I like the college game better but you are so far off. Right now the NBA has superstars that are basically considered good guys to the point of being soft. You clearly aren't keeping up(as you basically say). The league actually has more guys that are good role models right now than any other. Rarely any trouble, ESPECIALLY from the big names. The NFL is much worse and I say that as a bigger NFL fan. Sounds like you are just making statements without having a clue. Curry-Durant-Westbrook-Griffin-Harden-, etc, even LeBron are really smart and seemingly good guys with their charity work and personal lives.

 

[MohawkLion]

You can only name 3 players because you don't watch it. Understandable, but a pointless thing to say. People don't prefer college bball, they prefer march madness. Both of the NCAA regular season and NBA regular season are virtually pointless. The NBA moreso because more than 50% of the teams make the playoffs. The season is too long and too many teams make the playoffs. Not to mention, during the regular season, players aren't really trying. Playoff bball is completely different. Watching these guys actually play do-or-die bball is actually entertaining. In 3 days, there were 3 buzzer beater games. That's not entertaining? Clueless.

 

[PSURAHJ]

+100000000 I could maybe name three NBA players and that is only from over-hearing someone else talk about them. I was a huge fan back in the Bird/Magic/Jordan/Barkley days, but now I can't stand watching this garbage league with their less-than-role-model players!

This is way off. You mention Jordan and Barkley so I assume you recall Latrell Sprewell choking his Coach PJ Carlesimo in 1997. This is arguably the start of the dark era that many recall from the NBA. You had Jordan about to exit (the second time) and you had Iverson, Marbury, Sprewell and players of the new hip-hop era coming in and they were getting commercials, trying to release rap albums and all of that. If that was your last recollection of the NBA I can certainly understand still having a bitter taste in your mouth.

Today's top young stars are absolutely nothing like those young stars from the 90s/early 2000s era. Just watch the last two MVP acceptance speeches of Kevin Durant (he played at Texas) and Stephen Curry (he played at Davidson) and you'll see what I mean.

If you can tolerate the characters of the NFL (or college football for that matter) then you'll have no problem with the typical superstar from today's NBA.

Not for nothin' but you mention some superstars from yester-year whom we know now were not exactly the best of role models.

 

[dawgduice]

I think the NBA is starting to go the way of MLB. In short, interest mostly if "your" team is in the playoffs.

In the past, with fewer teams, everyone knew the "stars" and they played in just about every game. Today the "stars" are "always" injured, plus WHO are these "stars" once your past the first 4-5 names that come to mind?
In addition, where are the Big men - Wilt, Kareem, Malone, Ewing, Shaq, etc ????? The "battle" of the Big Man was always epic !!
As a long time coach and fan of all things BB I had expected to see more and more BIG MEN. True, in general, players are bigger and faster BUT I am surprised there are NO "real" Bigs !!! I have to assume physical growth to that size is still quite rare.

There will not be any changes such as having less teams or a shorter more meaningful schedule. Way to much money being made, especially from cable TV