LeBron James had a lot to be salty about after the Cavs’ meltdown against the Pacers on Friday night. It was Cleveland’s third straight loss, and it came amid a week of turmoil for a team desperately searching for answers to lingering issues that could come back to haunt them in the playoffs.
For starters, the Pacers’ 22-point comeback win was just the latest indictment of a porous Cavs defense that has been haunting them all season long. But LeBron also allowed his old nemesis Lance Stephenson to get under his skin and cost his team a technical foul in a game where every possession mattered.
Speaking of possessions that mattered, LeBron made a rare misstep – of the literal variety – in the final seconds when he stepped out of bounds on a drive to the basket that could have salvaged a victory for Cleveland.
https://twitter.com/MyNBAUpdate/status/952004134655246336
It was one moment, however, that LeBron seemed to have a sense of humor about when he took to Twitter after the game.
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
Of course, as with anything LeBron says, it comes packed with ulterior motives and multiple layers of meaning. LeBron, of course, is referring to a game between the Bucks and Thunder from a couple of weeks ago when Giannis Antetokounmpo stepped out of bounds before hammering home the game-winning dunk but wasn’t called for a violation.
The key difference between those two scenarios is that the referees whistled LeBron on his way to the hoop, meaning that they could officially review the play in question to make the final call. On Giannis’ play, there was no initial call by an official, so the play couldn’t be reviewed, although the league admitted the error in their controversial Last Two Minute Report the following day.
Obviously, LeBron would’ve preferred to be the beneficiary of a no-call in his case, but if we’re looking at it optimistically, we can see this as a wise move on the part of the officiating crew to make the initial call so that it was eligible for review. However small, it’s a step in the right direction.
