Cleveland Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue was upset with the officiating after LeBron James took only four free throws in Friday night's critical loss to the Golden State Warriors in Game 4 of the NBA Finals.
Stephen Curry found his long-range touch and scored 38 points as the defending champion Warriors rebounded from a 30-point loss by beating the Cavs 108-97 and taking a commanding 3-1 lead in the series.
"He never gets calls," Lue said after the loss. "I mean, he attacks. Outside of Russell Westbrook, he's one of the guys that attacks the paint every single play. And he doesn't get a fair whistle all the time because of his strength and because of his power and guys bounce off of him. But those are still fouls, and we weren't able to get them. But we've got to play through officiating."
James, despite repeated drives to the basket, has gotten to the foul line just 17 times in the four games of the Finals. He had 25 points, 13 rebounds, nine assists and seven turnovers in Game 4.
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"It's been like that all year for the most part," James said. "I'm not quite sure what I can do personally to get to the free throw line, but I've got to continue to be aggressive for our team. I'm getting hit, but the refs are not seeing it that way, on my drives. ... You know, it's tough playing 46 minutes and only going to the line four times, as much as I attack the rim. So it's just a tough situation for our team."
James stopped short of criticizing the officials, saying, "I'm going to save my $25K, OK?"
The Warriors, who made history with a 73-win regular season, can become the seventh franchise to win consecutive titles with a victory in Game 5 on Monday night at Oracle Arena, where the Warriors are 50-3 this season.
Meanwhile, Warriors forward Draymond Green could face a possible suspension for contact with an opponent's groin.
With less than three minutes left in Game 4, Green fell down and James tried stepping over his head as Green stood up. Green then swung his arm and appeared to make contact with James' groin area as he stood up and the two players had to be separated. A double foul was called. The play could be reviewed by the league. Green is one flagrant foul away from a one-game suspension.
"I don't know what should happen. It's not my call," James said. "That's the league office. They'll take a look at it. We all saw it in the locker room."
James added that he didn't expect the league to do anything about it. He also didn't like some of the things Green had to say on the court, which is why they had to be separated.
"Draymond just said something that I don't agree with. I'm all cool with the competition," James said. "I'm all fine with that, but some of the words that came out of his mouth was a little bit overboard, and being a guy with pride, a guy with three kids and a family, some things just go overboard and that's where he took it."
Green would receive an automatic suspension for Game 5 in Oakland if the league assessed a flagrant foul 1. A flagrant foul 2 would keep Green out of Games 5 and 6.
Earlier in the postseason, Green was assessed a flagrant foul and fined $25,000 for kicking the Oklahoma City Thunder's Steven Adams between the legs.
"We got tangled up. It is what it is," Green said in an interview with ESPN Radio. "I've got mad respect for LeBron and what he's done. He's a competitor; I'm a competitor. It's Game 4 of the Finals. I don't think anyone expects anything less. And if they do, they're expecting the wrong thing."
