In more than 20 years of following professional basketball, I've never seen anything like this. The Philadelphia 76ers had seemingly beaten the Cleveland Cavaliers 90-89. Time had expired. The Sixers were in their locker room celebrating. But stop the presses! The referees had — after reviewing the video and discussing the situation — ruled that Devin Brown was fouled with 0.2 seconds left on the clock. The Philly players returned to the court to watch Brown calmly sink both 'throws. Game over (again). Cleveland wins, 91-90.
What a cruel twist of fate for the Sixers and their fans. (Did I mention it was "Fan Appreciation Night" in Philadelphia?) When is a win not really a win? When you're playing against David Stern's golden boy LeBron James, that's when. And that fact was a jagged pill for Andre Iguodala to swallow: "You feel like you just got seriously slapped in the face. It was like we had the 'W' and it was marked off." Yeah. "Marked off" is one way to put it. "Stolen in the NBA-equivalent of a violent mugging" is another. But before I say anything else, you should really watch the tape:
Latest by J.L. White: Sorry, but that wasn't the best example of Highway Robbery in 2008.
/Sonics fan
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