The Cavaliers and Warriors faced off last night in the most highly anticipated matchup of the season. Needless to say, it lived up to its expectations and its already a strong candidate for game of the year. The Cavaliers took home the win and gave their fans the best Christmas gift possible, but it didn’t come without controversy throughout the game.
The NBA released it’s Last 2-Minute report for the Cavs-Warriors game, and it revealed two missed calls late in the game: one on LeBron James (who should’ve received a technical foul for hanging on the rim) and another on Richard Jefferson (for fouling Kevin Durant on the final play of the game.
League's ref report says Jefferson should've been called for foul on KD on final play & LeBron should've received tech for hanging on rim
— Jason Lloyd (@JasonLloydABJ) December 26, 2016
Here are the final two minutes of last night’s game.
"Irving does it again to the @Warriors!" – Mike Breen, ABC (GSW:vs CLE: Last 2 Minutes of the 2016 NBA Finals Rematch On Christmas) pic.twitter.com/jy00GQtaIw
— NBA History (@NBAHistory) December 26, 2016
The Last 2-Minute report doesn’t include any missed calls from the remaining 46 minutes of the game, including Richard Jefferson’s phantom technical foul midway through the fourth quarter after dunking on Kevin Durant, Draymond Green’s second foul (which wasn’t really a foul since he contested a shot at the rim going straight up), and the missed charge call on Draymond Green taken by DeAndre Liggins.
There were of missed calls both ways, but the Warriors held a 14-point lead with about nine minutes left in the fourth quarter. The Warriors inability to hold the double-digit lead had nothing to do with the referees. Both teams will meet again in three weeks on January 16, 2017 in Oakland, California.