LeBron James had two debatable answers concerning Tuesday night's loss to the Brooklyn Nets. He was wrong about one. He was right about the other, but not for the reason most people think.
First came his claim about Tuesday night's controversial finish in which he said he "should've been on the line to shoot two" in a postgame interview after being rejected at the rim by the Nets' Mason Plumlee during the Nets' 88-87 victory to cap a four-game season series sweep of the Heat.
"It was a foul," James said, as quoted by the Sun-Sentinel.com. "That's my thought. I should have been at the line to shoot two. What are you going to do? He grabbed my right hand."
Plumlee deflected the ball as James was attempting a game-winning dunk in the waning seconds of the game. As Plumlee's hand slid off the ball, his hand and James' hand met, and their hands clenched. It's unclear whether Plumlee caused their hands to clench or whether LeBron did it trying to get a foul called on Plumlee.
Had positions been reversed, would anyone be shocked that a foul wasn't called on James? Uh, no.
TNT's Craig Sager also asked what was a logical question, even if James sidestepped it: Are the Nets the biggest challenger to the Heat in the East?"
"Get out of here, Craig," James said. "Next question."
Media outlets, such as ProBasketballTalk.com, assume James dismissed the Nets because as everyone should know, the Pacers are Miami's biggest challengers.
Except for the fact that the Nets are 33-14 since Jan. 1; the Pacers are 29-20. If the Pacers are the Heat's biggest obstacle in the Eastern Conference, they've had a funny way of showing it with their play down the stretch.
James handled himself perfectly because he merely sidestepped the question. If he answers either way, that provides bulletin board for the wronged team. The only better answer may have been, "The team we're playing is our biggest challenger."
Which would've been fitting on Wednesday night as the Heat promptly lost to the Memphis Grizzlies as well,
Who is Indiana's biggest challenger in the East? Comment below or tell us @SportsWN.
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