Charlotte Bobcats forward Josh McRoberts hit Miami Heat forward LeBron James in the throat in the final minute of Miami's 101-97 Game 2 win on Thursday. James drove to the basket, McRoberts went for a hard foul and it was ugly:
Josh McRoberts hits LeBron James in the throat
Oof. That looked like it hurt, McBob.
Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
A common shooting foul was called on the play, which means the referees could not review it and call it a flagrant. James stayed on the ground for about 30 seconds afterward.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said he thought it should have been a flagrant foul, and did not get a rational explanation for why it was not, according to the Charlotte Observer's Rick Bonnell.
James didn’t have much to say about the play, and McRoberts said it wasn’t as bad as it looked.
“We just kind of got caught up in the air there,” McRoberts said, via Bonnell. “I have to see it, but for me (in) real time, he was coming pretty fast down the lane. He’s a real strong guy and I was trying to stop him from first getting the shot up.”
The NBA can upgrade the foul to a flagrant-1 or flagrant-2 after the fact, and it seems likely that will happen before Saturday’s Game 3 in Charlotte.
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