REF-ERSAL OF FORTUNE

J.R. Smith not only one who had a bad night in Game 1, officials did as well

THE REFEREES not only bailed out Kevin Durant and the Warriors Thursday night, they bailed out themselves.

And it’s an awful shame because they certainly sullied one of the greatest Finals performances of all-time, and maybe even ruined what could’ve been a compelling series.

We can argue till J.R. Smith’s next brain freeze whether it was the correct call to overturn Durant’s charge. There are arguments to both sides and it’s worth noting that the expert on ABC’s telecast team, ex-referee Steve Javie, believed the video evidence wasn’t sufficient enough to change the call on the court when Durant drove to the basket late in Game 1 from a charge to a block on LeBron James.

But here’s the undeniable truth: that was a judgement call, one of so many throughout the course of the game, and such calls aren’t supposed to be subject to video review. Just like you can’t change a holding call in football, or a strike to a ball in baseball, or anything else that’s going to open Pandora’s Box and turn sports into a replay-fest governed by robots.

In this instance, the refs were clearly confused about the play and used a loophole to wash their hands of the decision. It changed the course of Game 1 and Cavs coach Tyronn Lue was understandably distraught.

“They called a charge, right? And LeBron was clearly four feet outside the restricted area,” Lue said at the postgame press conference. “So it doesn’t make sense to go review something if — the review is if he’s on the line or if he’s close to the charge circle, that’s the review. He wasn’t close.

“For our team to come out and play their hearts out and compete the way we did, man, I mean, it’s bad. It’s never been done before where you know he’s outside the restricted, and then you go there and overturn the call and say it’s a block...It ain’t right.”

Here’s the problem: James wasn’t close to the restricted area. His feet weren’t near that semi-circle, so the idea that triggered the review sounds like a cop out. James was still sliding over when Durant started his Euro step toward the hoop, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a charge.

“To get into a legal position, the defender needs to establish himself in the path of the offensive player before contact is made, thus beating him to the spot,” the rule reads. “And before he starts his upward shooting motion.”

It’s debatable whether James established position in time to draw the charge, but 50 percent of foul calls in the NBA are debatable. It’s why some of these 2-minute reports — which the league puts out to show the public what calls were correct or wrong in the final moments of close games — are pages long.

And it’s why the referees should’ve owned their judgement call Thursday night instead of hiding behind a loophole.