One of the biggest plays of the game took place with about 2:30 seconds left in the game with the Dallas Mavericks leading the Miami Heat by three points. After a pick and roll for Dwyane Wade, a tremendous cut by LeBron James, and a collision in the restricted area between LeBron James and Tyson Chandler, Joey Crawford made what seemed to be the incorrect call. However, upon closer examination (and referring to a little known/used rule) we can see that Crawford made the correct call given the situation:
The play starts with Chris Bosh coming up and setting a screen for Dwyane Wade, with Wade actually using the screen. Off the ball, LeBron James sits in the corner, being covered by Jason Kidd.
After a hesitation move and a wicked crossover, Wade beats Shawn Marion and attacks the rim, drawing help. Both Jason Kidd and Tyson Chandler steps up to Wade to prevent him from getting to the rim. As soon as Kidd leaves James, James does exactly what he is supposed to, cutting off of Kidd’s back.
Wade jumps in the air and spots James cutting to the rim along the baseline. As he makes the pass, Tyson Chandler continues his rotation, trying to beat James to the rim.
Now, this is where the rulebook comes into play. You know those hash marks along the baseline that look a bit out of place (It’s hard to spot on this particular court, but it is where I drew the yellow line)? That is actually a very important line of reference for the refs called the Lower Defensive Box (here is it explained by NBA.com):
The restricted area (RA) is the area within the arched line on the court located below the rim. Its purpose is to stop secondary defenders from taking a position under the basket in an attempt to draw the offensive foul when a player is driving to the basket. If an offensive player drives past his primary defender on the way to the basket and a secondary defender comes over, he must establish a legal position outside the RA to draw an offensive foul. If the drive starts inside the Lower Defensive Box (LDB – this is the area from the bottom tip of the free throw circle to the endline between the two 3’ posted-up marks), the secondary defender is legally allowed to be positioned inside the LDB.
According to the rulebook, if a player starts his drive (or makes the catch) inside the lower defensive box (so inside the yellow line), the restricted area is negated and a player can take a charge inside of it. As you can obviously see, James doesn’t establish possession until he is inside of this line. So at this point, Tyson Chandler doesn’t need to get his feet outside of the restricted area, he simply needs to be set.
Chandler gets set as James lowers his shoulder and bulls through him. Crawford blows the whistle and calls the offensive foul, correctly. Here is the play in real time (with a slow motion play immediately after).
Watching in slow motion, you can see that Chandler gets set, keeps his feet down, and takes the contact right in the chest, exactly what you need to do to draw the offensive foul. With the fact that his feet doesn’t have to come out of the restricted area, it is definitely a charge in my opinion.
Now, I should note that Jeff Van Gundy (who has been fantastic all Finals long, even when he seems to go off the rails) did a terrific job not only recognizes this call, but explaining it clearly to everyone watching. Solid piece of announcing there that deserves credit.
