Tyronn Lue Was Understandably Furious Over The Overturned Charge Call In Game 1

Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals presented a whole lot for fans, players, and coaches to digest. There were moments that will be talked about for the remainder of the series, one of which was an overturned block/charge call that gave Kevin Durant a pair of free throws late in the game.

LeBron James slid in to take a charge, which got called, but the officials reviewed the play and, eventually, determined it was a block. It was a stunning call, not because it’s against the rules (officials actually can do this), but because it’s something you never see and it played a major role in swinging an NBA Finals game.

After the game, Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue met with the media. You’re not going to believe this, but he wasn’t especially happy that the call went in Golden State’s favor under such unusual circumstances.

“It’s never been done, ever, in the history of the game,” Lue said with a passion that you usually don’t see out of him. “And then tonight, in the Finals, on the biggest stage, when our team played well, played their ass, man. It ain’t right, it ain’t right.”

Warriors coach Steve Kerr, meanwhile, seemed to think that his team got a bit lucky.

It’s a weird situation — instant replay exists to fix mistakes made by officials, and the rules do say that they’re within their rights to make this call. But at the same time, this is such a rare call that it’s crazy that it got called in a situation that might have swung an NBA Finals game. Perhaps Golden State would have won the game regardless, but it’s hard to imagine Cavs fans getting over this call for a while.