Miami Heat Lose Game 4; Lebron and Heat Complain About Officiating

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.

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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.