Victor Oladipo insists LeBron James' late block was a goaltend

GiveMeSport

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By Tariq Saleh

Published Apr 26, 2018

The pair were involved in one of the biggest plays late in the game and it caused major controversy

LeBron James nailed a dramatic game-winning three to seal a 98-95 victory for the Cleveland Cavaliers over the Indiana Pacers in game five but a huge talking point will be a controversial play that led up to that point.With the score tied at 95, Victor Oladipo drove to the rim but saw his layup attempt blocked by James.The replays, however, showed that the ball hit the glass before LeBron blocked it and should've been called as a goaltend that would've given the Pacers a two-point lead.Instead, the Cavs grabbed the rebound and called a timeout, allowing their superstar to seal the victory at the buzzer.Oladipo clearly felt that the referees missed a huge call on that play."I got a step on him, and I felt I even got grabbed," said Oladipo, per ESPN. "It hit the backboard and he blocked it. It was a goaltend. It's hard to even speak on it. That layup is huge."Of course, James disagreed with this notion and believes he got to the ball first.

"I definitely thought it was a goaltend," James said with a laugh. "Of course I didn't think it was a goaltend.

"I try to make plays like that all the time and I mean he made a heck of a move, got me leaning right and he went left and I just tried to use my recovery speed and get back up there and make a play on the ball. And I was able to make a play."

Speaking on NBA TV, Joe Borgia, the NBA's senior vice president of replay & referee ops, broke down exactly why the play wasn't reviewed.

“Extremely tough play in real time it is so fast. Our rule is once the ball touches the glass, a defender cannot touch it, so you can’t hit it after he touches it," he said.

"But in order to use replay, you must call goaltending on the court, and no call was made on the court, therefore they [game officials] could not come over and look at it.”

Even if the goaltending had been called, it would've only given Indiana a two-point lead meaning LeBron's three would've still won the game for the Cavaliers.

Oladipo - who had a horrible shooting night going just 2-of-15 from the field for 12 points - credited the Cleveland star for the huge shot but questions if he would've had that same joy if his own layup had counted.