The Miami Heat beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 100-96 in Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night to even their Best of 7 series at 1. Although the free throw attempts for both teams were nearly even — 26 for OKC, 25 for Miami — it seemed like every close call went against the Thunder. Kevin Durant was whistled for his fifth foul early in the fourth quarter (and Scott Brooks wisely let him continue playing), James Harden got called for an offensive foul late, and Derek Fisher got whistled on a loose ball when nothing should have been called. But the most controversial call was the referees’ decision not to give LeBron James a foul for his contact with Kevin Durant in the final 11 seconds of the game.
LeBron appeared to make contact with Durant and didn’t get called for the foul when he easily could have been. Durant still had a clean look at the basket and missed, and then LeBron was fouled and sent to the line.
As much as the referees seemed to be in the Heat’s favor during Game 2, what shouldn’t be overlooked is that Durant still missed the shot while LeBron made both of his free throws after being fouled. I know I was expecting him to miss one of two and see the Thunder hit a 3 to tie the game, but it didn’t happen. James was 12-12 from the line. That was impressive.
H/T I am a GM for the vid
