With four minutes remaining in the third quarter of Game 2 of the 2018 NBA Finals, LeBron James received an outlet pass from Kevin Love and raced toward the basket, only to stumble out of bounds over a sliding Stephen Curry.
A whistle blew, but no foul was called.
Out of bounds, Cleveland Cavaliers.
Golden State Warriors ball.
An incredulous James argued the call, while Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue picked up a rare technical foul. In what was ultimately a 3-point swing, the Warriors pushed their lead to nine points when it could have very well been cut to six in what was ultimately a 122-103 victory to take a 2-0 series lead.
A day later, the NBA referees took their official Twitter account to admit the missed call, stating that it should have in fact been a foul.
Although admitting the mistake won't change the outcome, the egregiousness of the mistake should only fuel the frustration of fans still reeling from the crucial Kevin Durant charge at the end of Game 1, which was ultimately reversed to be called a block after a questionable review.
"I guess the rule is you can review -- you can review the call if it's inside or outside the restricted, is the rule that I know. And, I mean, they called a charge, right? And LeBron was clearly four feet outside the restricted area. So it doesn't make sense to go review something if -- the review is if he's on the line or if he's close to the charge circle, that's the review. He wasn't close," Lue said after the game.
"So what are we reviewing? Either call a blocking foul or call an offensive foul. For our team to come out and play their hearts out and compete the way we did, man, I mean, it's bad. It's never been done before where you know he's outside the restricted, and then you go there and overturn the call and say it's a block. It's never been done, ever, in the history of the game. And then tonight in The Finals on the biggest stage, when our team played well, played our a-- off, man, it ain't right. It ain't right."
In its final two-minute report the following day, the league stood by its decision to both review and reverse the play between Durant and James. And while the current play in question won't be included the report for Game 2, the refs -- for whatever reason -- appear inclined to own up to their mistake.
