The Blame Game: LeBron Blames the Refs after Losing to San Antonio

But, is he right to blame the Cavs' latest defeat to the referees alone?

As they say, learn to accept defeats as they will make you better in the future. But in a game of basketball, it's almost easy to point fingers as to who is to blame for your team's setbacks. You can blame your teammate who cannot play better defense. You can blame your coach for drawing up the wrong play. You can even blame the air conditioning system inside the court for making you sweat too much. In most instances, the blame game ends with the referees being blamed the most.

In the game between the Cleveland Cavaliers against the slumping San Antonio Spurs, LeBron James who had 33 points and 13 rebounds, has the referees to blame after the Spurs beat the Cavs, 110-94. Apparently, LeBron wasn't blaming the lack of effort from his teammates.  It was the fact that the Cavs were called for 24 personal fouls while the Spurs were only whistled for 12 including only 3 in the second half. But is LeBron right to blame the referees for the momentum shift which enabled San Antonio- a team that has been playing without Kawhi Leonard- to whip the Cavs' butts?

Statistically speaking, the 32-14 disparity in the free throws that awarded is big but not enough to blame it on the referees alone. Part of the blame should be pointed to the Cavs' inability to defend, again. They allowed the Spurs to score 110 points while the Spurs did a great job in limiting the Cavs to 94 points- a signature move for a defensive-minded team.

LeBron James should also blame his teammates for not shooting well especially from downtown where the Cavs shot 25% while the Spurs shot 47%. And, aside from LeBron James, only Jordan Clarkson (17 points) and Jeff Green (14 points) were the players of Tyronn Lue who scored in double figures so everyone has themselves to blame for the Cavs' latest defeat against the Spurs- a team whom they haven't beaten this season.

Conclusion

It's definitely frustrating especially for a player like LeBron James to lose against an understaffed team like the Spurs. But, he shouldn't have gone too far by blaming the refs alone. After all, he had 6 of the Cavs' 16 turnovers.