For a moment, it appeared as though the Cleveland Cavaliers were on the verge of securing a Game 1 upset in the 2018 NBA Finals. However, the Golden State Warriors caught a break when small forward Kevin Durant's charge call was later overturned after an official review late in the fourth quarter.
Needless to say, there has been some controversy surrounding the decision. Although Durant was admittedly surprised by the ruling, he recalled a time last season when the same thing happened to him, according to Ben Golliver of SI.com:
“The same play happened to me last season… I knew they could review it… I knew I had my man beat and he came over a little late. When they called it a charge, I was a little surprised, but I was glad they reviewed it.”
Cleveland was up 104-102 with 36 seconds left in the game when Durant was called for a charge on small forward LeBron James. However, the officials decided to review it since it was within the last two minutes of the game. Although he managed to keep both feet out of the restricted area, they ultimately deemed that he was not in a legal guarding position at the point of impact. As a result, Durant was able to tie the game with a pair of free-throws rather than giving up the ball to Cleveland.
The call was one of many factors that attributed to Golden State's victory in Game 1. Meanwhile, Durant's performance on offense was certainly not one of them. He managed to score just 26 points on 22 shot attempts. Fortunately, he managed to pick up the slack on the defensive end with three blocks and a steal while hitting nine of his 10 free-throws. It goes without saying that the Warriors may not want to rely on any more controversial calls moving forward.
Follow Us
Subscribe