INDIANAPOLIS, IN. With 0:56 left in the 4th Quarter of the Eastern Conference Finals Game 4, Lebron James stood with his mouth agape. And it was not because he had crapped himself in fear and was about to FAIL in the closing seconds of yet another NBA Playoff game.
"I didn't do it! I'm just DWade's Sidekick! He told me to set that screen!"
No, this time, Lebron had his mouth agape in shock after he was called for an offensive foul while setting a screen for DWade. Despite all his protesting, unless he's new to the sport of basketball, Lebron James, being a veteran of the league, should know that throwing your hip out and tripping the other player while setting a screen is indeed a foul for any player in the NBA, despite the usual practice of "Superstar Calls", for which Lebron is a particularly frequent beneficiery. In case you haven't seen the highlight of the play which earned Lebron an ejection, here it is:
It was ironic after a day when Lebron was quoted as condoning flopping as a good strategy, and laughing for several days about the 10-12 flops a game on which his Miami Heat teammate, Shane Battier is able to draw fouls that negate Indiana Pacers scoring plays, offensive rebounds, or just generally get David West or Paul George into foul trouble.
However, on this night, things would end differently.
Despite Battier again drawing flop fouls on nearly three consecutive trips down the floor and helping the Miami CHeat to build a 7-point lead early in the 4th Quarter, the Indiana Pacers would not go away, and they would not be discouraged by the biased officiating. With 0:56 seconds left in the game, the Pacers held a 4-point lead.
And that is when Miami went to their true alpha dog, DWade, while Sidekick set the screen.
Well, Lebron couldn't quite do that right, and he ended up getting tossed with 6 personal fouls and on the strength of a 99-92 victory, the Indiana Pacers pulled into a 2-2 series tie with the Miami CHeat.
Today, the official network of the Miami Heat and online home of "The Heat Index", ESPN, finally remarked on the ridiculousness of the amount of flopping going on, mostly to say that the Indiana Pacers had joined in. It was not notable or ridiculous when the Miami CHeat were utilizing flopping as a strategy, but now that the Pacers were playing that game, now it is excessive and rampant, and must be stopped. HUH?
I guess the media must believe that since the Miami CHeat flop, Floppers Gon' Flop. Even if it has been made "illegal" by the NBA.
MIAMI, FL. There was an Eastern Conference Finals game tonight, but that was made irrelevant by the NBA ruling that came down today prior to ECF Game 3.
The National Basketball Association review video of the following video of Dwayne Wade delivering a flying elbow to the side of Lance Stephenson's skull during the previous Eastern Conference Finals game. You make the call; how many games should DWade be suspended for?
What was your answer? 3? 4? 5? 6? 7?
WRONG!
Try ZERO.
Lebron gets shoved; Nazr Mohammed gets ejected.
J.R. Smith of the New York Knicks misses with an elbow; he gets suspended.
DWade blatently and intentionally elbows a player at half court during a nationally televised game; no call, as Miami Heat referees "didn't see" the play during game; then upon league review, FLAGRANT ONE, fine and no suspension.
HUH!? NO SUSPENSION? For a malicious and intentional elbow to the head of another player?
There is no greater insult to the game when there is such a steep inequity in fairness between the privileged and the rest of the league.
The Miami Heat after losing to the Chicago Bulls in the Game 1 in a fairly officiated 4th Quarter, finally got by the Bulls with the help of Miami Heat referees.
Now, despite a dumb, dumb, dumb-ass play by DWade, the Miami Heat and the NBA's corporate fake-superstar, Lebron James, do not have to feel the repercussions of such a mistake, unlike the other 29 NBA teams, because the Miami CHeat are the NBA's pet franchise. And it will be the Indiana Pacers who will have their NBA Championship stolen one bad call at a time by NBA Miami Heat referees.
After a series where Carlos Boozer was called for an offensive foul for every Shane Battier flop, now the Eastern Conference Finals has been rigged by off-the-ball fouls on David West, who proved to be unstoppable during ECF Games 1 and 2.
Watch for more mystery fouls on the Indiana Pacers' dominant frontline in order to nullify the Miami CHeat's biggest weakness as a "team".
While Miami is by far the most talented team in the NBA (collusion by the Big Three to come together aside), they should not be GIVEN another undeserved NBA Championship just because they have the most stars. They should be made to earn it, in a fairly called series of games, just like every other team in the league. If the NBA can't clean up their corrupt officiating favoring their pet team and players, JOIN THE BOYCOTT!
MIAMI, FL. One game after the luckiest game of Lebron's career, when Lebron fans thought he had turned a corner from being LeChoke, Lebron does what he does: PROVES THAT HE LACKS THE CLUTCH GENE.
Paul George has proven Lebron's equal and more, coming up with huge clutch plays like his ridiculous dunk on Lebron and Chris Anderson.
In the final 45 seconds of Game 2, Lebron makes two bad plays, turning the ball over to the Pacers, essentially choking away the game.
On one possession, with Indiana up 95-93, David West intercepted a pass that James was throwing to Ray Allen
with 43 seconds left, pushed the ball into the frontcourt before giving the ball to George Hill.
While the Pacers didn't get a shot off, resulting in a 24 second violation, the clock had ticked all the way down to 17.7 seconds.
And that set the stage for the Return of LeChoke.
Lebron received the ball on an easy throw in at the top of the key, guarded by Paul George. Lebron James, put his shoulder down and drove to the right block, saw the 7' 2" Roy Hibbert coming to help, spun and travelled (not called by the referees), and then in desperation, tried jump passing out toward the perimeter.
The pass went to no one, just an area, and David West got to the area first, knocking the ball off-course with his right hand for his second steal in the final minute of the game. Indiana was able to extend the lead to four on two George Hill free throws.
Despite the great effort of the visiting Indiana Pacers, the win was not yet sealed. With nearly 8 seconds left, the Heat could hit a three with Indiana being called for a foul for a four point play. The Pacers played a disciplined defense resulting in a Chris Bosh miss.
The Miami Heat referees made one final attempt to steal the game for their team, calling the rebound off the Chris Bosh miss off of Indiana, awarding the ball and another opportunity to Miami with under two seconds, however the rule requiring video review of out-of-bounds calls in the final minutes mandated that the biased call be overturned. The Indiana Pacers were able to run out the final ticks of the clock to seal the victory, despite the referees bias.
Here are highlights of GAME 2 of the EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS:
And in case you missed the PLAY OF THE GAME, Paul George blowing by Lebron James and then dunking on Chris Anderson, here is the video (it's even ridiculous in Russian!).
WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Now that the Indiana Pacers have fairly wrestled home court away from the Miami Heat (just like the Chicago Bulls did in the second round), watch for the Miami Heat referees to hook the Miami CHeat up with some opportune 4th quarter non-calls when the Pacers work the ball inside, or on Pacer offensive rebounds. And really watch closely for Roy Hibbert, who starred in Game 2 with 29 points 10 rebounds, to battle foul trouble during the rest of the series; it is the biggest way the referees and the league can help the Miami Heat, who have no answer for Indiana's size, get into the NBA Finals. If you disagree with the NBA practice of "Superstar Calls" and the NBA's efforts to keep teams other than the Miami Heat from reaching the NBA Finals, then please join THE NBA MIAMI HEAT BOYCOTT!
