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Mayor makes goaltending illegal ahead of Cavs-Pacers' game 6

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Reuters

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/sports/04/28/goaltending-2018-2018-042718.jpg"/><figcaption>Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) drives against Indiana Pacers forward Bojan Bogdanovic (44) game five of the first round of the 2018 NBA Playoffs at Quicken Loans Arena. David Richard-USA TODAY Sports/Reuters</figcaption></figure></div>LeBron James better be careful not to goaltend in game 6 against the Indiana Pacers on Friday night.Indianapolis mayor Joe Hogsett issued an executive order on Friday declaring the act of goaltending illegal in his city, of which Bankers Life Fieldhouse is a part.&quot;Oh - one more thing. By executive order, I am proud to outlaw goaltending in the City of Indianapolis... for every player, on every team. I&#x27;m ready for Game 6, are you?,&quot; Hogsett wrote in an accompanying tweet.With the score tied at 95 and the clock winding down in the fourth quarter of Wednesday night&#x27;s Game 5, Indiana guard Victor Oladipo drove down the left side of the lane with James defending.Oladipo laid the ball off the glass moments before James swatted away the attempt. Goaltending should have been called but wasn&#x27;t, and the play wasn&#x27;t reviewable by replay under NBA rules.Cleveland came up with the rebound with three seconds left, called timeout and set up a play in which James hit a 3-pointer to give Cleveland a 98-95 win.&quot;Hit the backboard, then he blocked it,&quot; Oladipo said. &quot;Replays, I guess you guys can see, it was a tough play at the time for him, but it was a goaltend. It&#x27;s hard to even speak on it. It just sucks, honestly. It really sucks.&quot;The NBA noted in its Last Two Minute Report that referees missed the call.NBA senior vice president of replay and referee operations Joe Borgia told NBA TV that referees were not permitted to review goaltending because it was not called on the court.&quot;In super slow motion, you just see the ball hit the glass and maybe come off an inch, and that&#x27;s when LeBron got it,&quot; Borgia said. &quot;Like I said, once the ball touches the (backboard), defenders cannot touch it, and unfortunately James did.&quot;Asked about the play, James said, joking, &quot;I definitely thought it was a goaltend.&quot; He then added, &quot;Of course I didn&#x27;t think it was a goaltend. I try to make plays like that all the time, and I mean, he made a heck of a move, got me leaning right and he went left, and I just tried to use my recovery speed and get back up there and make a play on the ball. And I was able to make a play.&quot;The fact that James&#x27; ensuing basket was a 3-pointer would seem to make the goaltending question moot, but Oladipo won&#x27;t accept that logic.&quot;Give him credit where credit is due,&quot; Oladipo said. &quot;The 3 was big-time. Definitely huge. But who&#x27;s to say they even run that play? We don&#x27;t know what happens. It&#x27;s unfortunate. It really sucks that (the referees) missed that.&quot;The result gave the Cavaliers a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven, first-round Eastern Conference playoff series.James wound up with 44 points on 14-of-24 shooting from the floor. Oladipo made just 2 of 15 field-goal attempts while contributing 12 points and 12 rebounds.(For more sports coverage, visit the <a href="http://sports.abs-cbn.com/">ABS-CBN Sports website</a>.)

LeBron James better be careful not to goaltend in game 6 against the Indiana Pacers on Friday night.

LeBron James better be careful not to goaltend in game 6 against the Indiana Pacers on Friday night.