LeBron furious with refs' last-second call against him, later forced to admit they were right
For Pacers fans, the referees’ calling LeBron James for stepping out of bounds while trying to get position for a game-winning layup Friday night — a call that sealed the 97-95 win for Indiana — must’ve felt like a gift from the heavens.
Initially, LeBron was furious, insisting that they’d made the wrong call and, like so many other cases this season, affected the outcome of a game rather than letting the players decide the better team.
Well, upon further review, it turns out the refs made the right call, and even LeBron had to accept that he’d given one away for the reeling Cavaliers, who have now lost three straight and seven of their last nine to drop to 26-16.
Watch for yourself: LeBron’s plant foot slips and clearly lands on the line:
The best part of that? Look who’s the first person LeBron sees after the call is made: It’s none other than Lance Stephenson, who dogged LeBron and got in his face the entire game. Stephenson’s ability to be a thorn in the King’s side goes back to the playoff challenges between the Pacers and LeBron’s Heat back in the 2013 and 2014 Eastern Conference Finals.
LeBron admitted that the refs got it right in a tweet:
Definitely stepped out by a tiny bit after seeing it over again! Great call. Needed to be in OKC on that drive. Lol. Live and you Learn
— LeBron James (@KingJames) January 13, 2018
“In OKC” refers to a dunk that Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks pulled off against the Thunder, where the “Greek Freak” stepped out of bounds but the referees didn’t call it.
Which, when you get right down to it, is a great way to both take a dig at the officiating in the NBA while simultaneously smoothing feathers with the refs in his specific game and probably avoid a $25,000 fine for criticizing the officials.
The turnover came with the Cavs down 96-95 to the Pacers; Darren Collison was fouled on the ensuing possession, hit one of two from the line, then watched James miss a desperation heave that would’ve snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.
With the loss, the struggling Cavs are now closer to missing the playoffs entirely than to capturing first place from the Boston Celtics: They trail the Celtics by seven games and lead ninth-place Philadelphia by 5.5.
Cleveland blew a big early lead in this one; after the first quarter, the score was 34-12 in favor of the visitors. Indiana outscored Cleveland 32-24 in the second quarter and 32-16 in the third, completely erasing the deficit and setting up the wild finish to the game in the fourth.
The Cavs may have thought they had this one when they led 95-89 on a pull-up midrange jump shot by LeBron with 3:57 to go, but the Pacers finished the game on an 8-0 run.
In a game that close, it’s the little things that matter, and LeBron cost his team dearly when he let Stephenson bait him into a technical foul earlier in the contest.
LeBron James got a technical foul in the 4th quarter of a 1-point game for this "push" on #Pacers' Lance Stephenson just before the #Cavs got the ball to inbound on the sideline lol. pic.twitter.com/MDQhdDYn9M
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) January 13, 2018
With the tech, Cleveland gave away a point in the fourth quarter. The Cavs were down one when LeBron went up for that shot and went out of bounds.
You put it all together, and it was a very bad day for King James.
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