No Controversy: The Refs Got the Lance Stephenson Foul Call Right
By Jason McIntyre
The Cavs saved their season with a 104-100 win over Indiana in Game 4 Sunday night, but it wasn’t without controversy in the final seconds.
With Indiana trailing by three in the final :10, Lance Stephenson went for a steal and in the process, got Cleveland’s Jeff Green in a quasi-headlock and took him down. It was an overly aggressive play by a guy trying to get the ball, and clearly a foul on Stephenson.
But in the scrum, an angry Green popped up and pushed Stephenson. It was unclear to the announcers what the call was, but referees now say that there was a foul call on Stephenson as well as a jump ball. And when that happens, it’s a foul.
The refs got it right. The announcers were completely lost – even when they came to the table to explain the “hostile act” portion. Don’t let anyone try to say the NBA is rigged because of that play, or the NBA “didn’t want LeBron to lose.”* That was clearly a foul on Stephenson, who will have a great future in the WWE.
* I’m sure the NBA doesn’t want LeBron to lose, but that call had nothing to do with it.