Not that it really matters in the grand scheme of things, but the NBA’s two-minute report from Wednesday’s game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Indiana Pacers is out.
In it, the Association has confirmed that the LeBron James blocked shot on Pacers guard Victor Oladipo late in the fourth quarter was in fact a goaltend.
The NBA's last-two-minutes report is out, and it says, indeed, that last night the Cavs should have retained the ball with 27.6 seconds to go (refs mistook who last touched it before it went out). And, indeed, LeBron's block on Oladipo with 5 seconds to go was actually a goaltend pic.twitter.com/cAoGFqNIAJ
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) April 26, 2018
Replays after the fact showed this was clearly the case. Despite going to a television timeout, officials on hand in Cleveland decided not to review the play. Ultimately, James would go on to hit a game-winning three as time expired to give the Cavaliers a 3-2 series lead.
On a related note, a turnover committed by James immediately prior to the goaltend in question shouldn’t have been upheld. In fact, replays of that one specific play shows that the ball was indeed off a Pacers counterpart.
In any event, these two-minute reports are nothing less than a sham. They’re just going to upset fans and players alike This is no different.