Reversing a non-reviewable call

Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the defending champion Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers had a dream-like overtime finish but went through a nightmarish climax in regulation at the Oracle Arena in Oakland last Thursday.

The referees committed one blunder over the other in the last two minutes of regular time with apparent condonation from the league’s replay review control center in New Jersey. The Warriors surely don’t need any help from the officials to retain the championship so the assistance was unwarranted.

What was disturbing was the reversal of the referees’ original call of an offensive foul against Kevin Durant for charging into LeBron James. By itself, a block or charge call isn’t reviewable. But because the referees weren’t sure if James was in the restricted no-charge zone, they consulted the video monitor. Right there and then, that seemed like a cop-out because even if you were a mile away, you would’ve seen James was outside of the restricted area. But there’s a loophole in the NBA rule on reviewables, giving the referees a window to change a doubtful block or charge call.

The reviewable play is to determine whether a defensive player was in the restricted zone. But in the course of the review, if it is found, with consultation from the replay review control center, that there was a wrong call on a block or charge, that foul may be reversed whether or not the play was in the nocharge zone. It’s rare that a block or charge call is reversed particularly if not in the nocharge zone. Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue said it’s never happened before until Game 1. NBA star Damian Lillard tweeted that he was under the impression that a block or charge call may be reversed only if in the no-charge zone. The NBA issued this clarification on the issue: “The trigger is that in the last two minutes of the fourth (period) or overtime, officials have doubt whether the defender was in the restricted area. While reviewing, they may also confirm if the defender was in legal guarding position when the contact occurred.” It isn’t clear if the review on the block or charge is applicable to a play outside the no-charge zone. But the NBA has taken the liberty of assuming the block or charge may be reviewed regardless of whether the defender was in the restricted zone. That opens the possibility of reversing a block or charge call but only after a reviewable trigger point which in the Game 1 case was to determine if a defender was in the restricted zone.

With less than two minutes left in an Oklahoma City-Indiana regular season game last Dec. 13, a similar incident happened. Thad Young barged into Josh Huestis and the initial call was a charge. The referees consulted the replay to check if Huestis was in the no-charge zone. While in the process of review, they determined that the call should’ve been a block and reversed the decision even if Huestis was outside the restricted area. That was the precedent to the reversal in Game 1 of the Finals. I think the block or charge call may be reversed only if the defender is in the restricted area. If outside the restricted area, a reversal of a block or charge foul undermines the authority of the referees to make a judgment call.

This policy will open a can of worms in the NBA. Take for instance the reviewable play of goal-tending or determining the last touch in the last two minutes. What if in the course of the review, a foul that wasn’t called is spotted? Will it be called or will the referees turn a blind eye?

Another blunder was ejecting Tristan Thompson on a phantom elbow on Shaun Livingston in the dying seconds. That led to some trash-talking involving Thompson and Draymond Green. Thompson ended up pushing the ball and a closed fist on Green’s face – which he should’ve been ejected for and not for the phantom elbow.

There were more officiating gaffes during the course of the contest but through it all, the Cavs deserved to lose because they blew it when J. R. Smith grabbed an offensive rebound and ran out the clock with about four seconds to go in regulation thinking Cleveland was up when the score was tied. Smith later lied to the press saying he knew the score was tied. But Lue confirmed Smith’s mistake which was unforgiveable. James’ 51-point effort went for naught.

The NBA should learn from the PBA in confining what are reviewables and reversibles. In the PBA, what are reviewable in the last two minutes of the fourth period or overtime are 24-seconds to check if the shot came within time, last touch, deliberate foul, goal-tending, foul away from play and flagrant foul. Reviewable at any time are the landing spot foul, flagrant foul, end of the period basket and determining if a shot came from two or three-point distance. During the review, no call of a different nature may be reviewed or reversed.