LeBron James won Game 5 for the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night with a pair of spectacular plays in the final five seconds: A chase-down block on Indiana Pacers guard Victor Oladipo to maintain a tie game, followed by a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to win it.
Oladipo, though, did not feel the block was kosher, and he may have a point.
"We set a screen, he switched onto me, I got a step on him, felt like I even got grabbed on the way to the rim, I tried to shoot a layup, it hit the backboard, then he blocked it," Oladipo explained of his final possession. "There's replays I guess you guys can see. I guess it's a tough play at the time for (the referees), but it was a goaltend. I mean, It's hard to even speak on it, it just sucks."
The block/goaltend was not reviewable, because without a whistle on the play, there was no trigger for a replay. James was quick to sarcasm when asked for his take on the play.
"I definitely thought it was a goaltend," he quipped. "Of course I didn't think it was a goaltend. I try to make plays like that all the time. He made a heck of a move, got me leaning right and he went left, and I just tried to use my recovery speed, get back up there, and make a play at the ball."
For what it's worth, James' ensuing 3-ball still would've won the game, if you throw causal determinism out the window. Oladipo may get some vindication in tomorrow's last-two-minute report, for all the good that will do him and the Pacers.
