OAKLAND, Calif. -- At least one Cleveland Cavalier isn’t going to blame their 2-0 deficit on the referees.
“I’m over the referee (expletive),” Cavs forward Tristan Thompson said following Sunday night’s 122-103 Game 2 loss.
"At the end of the day if you don’t give effort and you don’t play hard, you’re never going to give yourself a chance to win,” he continued. “Miss or make, you think you got fouled, you think it's a travel, you gotta get back on defense and communicate. That’s what Golden State wants. They want you to hang back, complain to the refs and complain because they're going to come down and knock a three in your face. You can't be worried about that."
After the controversial block/charge was reversed late in Game 1, the Cavs were understandably on edge when it came to the referees. Coach Ty Lue drew a technical in the third quarter of Game 2 for complaining about a no-call on a long outlet pass to LeBron James, who fell to the floor as he was being hounded by Steph Curry and Klay Thompson.
On another, James was visibly upset late in the first quarter when Curry tried to draw a foul on Jordan Clarkson on an off-balance three-point attempt but ended up shooting it out of bounds. Replays appeared to show the ball go out of bounds off of Curry, and James was demonstrative in his reaction when the officials gave the Warriors possession.
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Thompson also took exception to a question about feeling "helpless" when having to guard Curry, who set an NBA Finals record with nine three-pointers in the win.
"When I'm switching on him, I'm guarding him," Thompson said shortly before abruptly exiting the media scrum. "I am never helpless on no guy in the NBA."
