The Dramatic Final Minute of NBA Finals Game One

By KATHERINE MCDONOUGH '19

Game 1 of the NBA finals began with Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers taking on the stacked Golden State Warriors. For the 4th year in a row, these two teams are facing each other in the hope of winning the coveted Larry O’Brien trophy. Both teams went into the NBA finals understandably tired from gruelling playoff series beforehand, and game one did not disappoint. The entirety of the game consisted of close back and forth shots, with Steph Curry leading Golden State for points with 29, and LeBron leading Cleveland with an outstanding 51 points. However, the most dramatic and interesting moments of the game occured in the final minute.

With the Warriors trailing 102-104, as Kevin Durant drove towards the basket in hopes of tying the game, James slid in front of Durant in attempt to take a charge. The whistle blew, and the refs ruled it as an offensive foul against Durant, resulting in the Cavs ball, up 2, with 34 seconds to go. It would give them the chance to make it a two possession game , essentially eliminating the potential of a Warriors comeback. The refs, however, debated whether LeBron was positioned outside the restricted zone, an area in which you cannot take a charge. Additionally, if a player is outside of the restricted zone, the call cannot be reviewed (granted, if it is in the last two minutes of the game, this call can be reviewed, but this rule is rarely ever called). Yet the refs could not come to a conclusion about whether or not LeBron was inside the restricted zone, despite that LeBron was roughly 2 feet outside of the restricted area. The refs reversed the call, declaring a blocking foul on LeBron, giving Kevin Durant two free throws. He hit them both to tie the game at 104. James and Curry then both made shots for their respective teams, leaving the Cavs trailing behind 106-107 with 23.5 seconds left on the clock.  On the Cavs final possession, Lebron made a pass to a cutting George Hill who was fouled by Warriors shooting guard Klay Thompson. With 4.7 seconds left, Hill got the chance to take two free throws to steal the lead. He made the first shot. He missed the second. The rebound bounced out to Cavs’ shooting guard J.R. Smith with only 4 seconds remaining. Instead of attempting the easy layup in front of him, Smith bizarrely took the ball to halfcourt, presumably thinking the Cavs were leading, not tied. Because of this error, the game was taken into overtime, in which the Warriors completely dominated, winning the game with a final score of 124-114.

The overall series currently has the Cavs down 0-2 to the Warriors going into Cleveland for games 3 and 4. If the Cavs lose this finals, LeBron will have been to nine NBA finals (eight of those in a row) and have lost six. While some believe Lebron has already eclipsed the great Michael Jordan, many question if his losing finals record tarnishes his overall chances of reaching Jordan (who boast an impressive 6-0 finals record) -- sure, he can take a team to the finals, but how often can he pull through? Yes, Lebron has carried an underwhelming Cavs team to the NBA finals, and is facing arguably the greatest team of all time, but is that an excuse? For a lot of people, the outcome of this finals could either cement LeBron as the greatest of all time or restrict him from passing his airness.