LeBron James was unable to carry his team to victory in a must-win NBA Finals game Wednesday night despite getting some help from the officials on more than one play.
LeBron appeared to get away with at least two questionable plays in the second half of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 118-113 loss to the Golden State Warriors in Game 3. The first came late in the third quarter, when he blatantly shoved Andre Iguodala before grabbing a rebound.
Lol right in front of both refs pic.twitter.com/Y7w2zMURqi
— warriorsworld (@warriorsworld) June 8, 2017
Then in the final seconds of the game, LeBron pulled a Draymond Green while attempting a 3-pointer.
Let's talk about this interesting kick by Lebron.. pic.twitter.com/6mnjQOFaQd
— Malachi (Kai) (@LightskinKai) June 8, 2017
You can’t expect an official to call a foul on LeBron for the kick, especially at that point in the game. However, the shove of Iguodala was pretty egregious. With refs watching the play from either side, you have to wonder if that gets called on any other player.
In fairness, LeBron doesn’t really have a reputation for kicking his leg out the way Green does. You’re not going to hear anyone making accusations like this against him, but Warriors fans probably would have accused the NBA of trying to give the Cavs a game if Golden State ended up losing. Instead, the Warriors are on the verge of going a perfect 16-0 in the postseason.
