The ending to Game 4 of Cavs-Pacers was nothing if not eventful. Indiana’s comeback effort fell short as they were unable to storm back from a double-digit deficit for the second straight game, but they still managed to make things interesting late.
After a Victor Oladipo three-pointer cut the Cavs lead to 103-100 with about 10 seconds to play, the Cavs inbounded the ball to Jeff Green who got tied up and taken to the ground by Lance Stephenson in a wild sequence. Initially, the call we saw on the floor was of a jump ball and the referees went to the monitors to determine what the call on the floor was and if there were any extracurriculars that deserved further fouls.
Ultimately, they determined it was a foul on Lance prior to the tie up, as being called by the baseline official, sending Jeff Green to the foul line where he split his free throws to seal a 104-100 win for Cleveland. After the game, the Inside the NBA crew had Joe Borgia join them to explain exactly what happened, but Kenny Smith still had some questions about the sequencing of the foul call and jump ball call.
The best part of this is Barkley using his question for Borgia to ask if there was a junior vice president under him. After that, Smith and Barkley continued on about the play, with Smith questioning if it was a jump ball and Barkley and Shaq incensed anyone would see that not as a foul, with Chuck exclaiming “What are you, Ric Flair? You can go put people in headlocks?”
Barkley then offered Ernie Johnson $100 to slap Kenny and they eventually moved on from the whole thing, but it was interesting that some of the staunchest defenders of “playoff basketball” and the physicality that come with it were very quick to agree with the assessment that was indeed a foul.
