The Big Lead

The Officials From Game 1 Of The NBA Finals Were Horrific and Should Not Be Back This Series

By Ryan Phillips

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The Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors put on quite a show in Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals. In what was largely a fantastic game, the Warriors were able to put the Cavs away in overtime with a 124-114 win. Unfortunately, a big part of the story Thursday night was how awful the officiating was during key parts of the game.

Aside from a key block/charge video overturn late in the fourth quarter, there were also several terrible calls and non-calls late in the fourth and overtime. Then there was the ridiculous handling of the end of the game, where Tristan Thompson was ejected for…contesting a shot?

Ken Mauer, Tony Brothers and Ed Malloy should be suspended for the rest of the NBA Finals. That was an absolute joke of a performance from all three guys.

On a night where LeBron James put up 51 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, and Stephen Curry dropped in 29 points and dished out nine assists, it’s ridiculous that the horrendous officiating has to be a talking point. That’s how egregious it was.

Twitter was up in arms about the refs with a lot of hate being directed at the NBA and the three men in stripes: