Blatt downplays last-second play change, likens coaching to being a fighter pilot

The Cleveland Cavaliers have their three best players injured to varying degrees: Kevin Love is done for the playoffs, Kyrie Irving is playing at about 35 percent and LeBron James is dealing with what sounds like a serious ankle issue.

What they do not need is amateur decision-making or internal strife.

In Game 4 against the Chicago Bulls on Sunday, divine intervention saved them from the former; on Monday, the Cavs denied having the latter.

While Blatt again conceded his error of attempting to call a timeout the team did not have with nine seconds left in Game 4, he blew off suggestions of James pulling rank on him by changing the play on the Cavs' final possession.

"You guys want to make it a story," Blatt told reporters Monday. "We won the game."

Blatt said there were two options for James to receive the ball if the Cavs had stuck to the coach's play, which had the four-time NBA MVP acting as the inbounder.

That's debatable, because there was only 1.5 seconds on the clock at the time the ball was checked. Blatt did not say who was supposed to receive the ball in this situation, although J.R. Smith's hot hand in the fourth quarter would have been a good bet.

Instead, James drained a long two from the corner off the Matthew Dellavedova inbounds pass to secure an 86-84 Cavs win and his third career playoff buzzer-beater.

"To me, it's not the story," Blatt said, "It's just part of the drama."

James was candid in his defense of his coach on Monday.

"A basketball coach makes 150 to 200 critical decisions during the course of a game," Blatt said. "Something I think is paralleled only by a fighter pilot."

Naturally, the Internet reacted quickly to that remark.

Some were also quick to mention an NBA coach who was in the Air Force.

One of the critical decisions Blatt mentions was the illegal timeout call that went unpunished by officials, a would-be disaster that Blatt owes assistant Tyronn Lue credit for averting.

On Monday, NBA executive VP of referee operations Mike Bantom said none of the three officials saw Blatt signaling for the stoppage.

Meanwhile, Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said Monday that he asked for a review at the end of the game.