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It's been the biggest topic in the Eastern Conference first-round playoff series thus far. Cavaliers coach Mike Brown has been campaigning loud and hard for the officials to blow their whistles when LeBron James drives to the basket.
When James was asked to explain a "LeBron foul," he said it's obvious.
"I think you can see it," he said. "I don't need to tell you. You'll see it (Monday).
"There's a difference from a foul and a LeBron foul or a Shaq foul these days. It takes a little more of a hit to get a foul."
Brown got what he was asking for in the third quarter Monday night, when Wizards center Brendan Haywood was called for a flagrant-2 foul and ejected after he pushed James on a drive to the basket without making a play on the ball.
Change in strategy
Opposing teams used to attempt to make James shoot mid-range and long jumpers instead of allowing him to drive to the basket. Now, it seems, they might be allowing him in the lane and then hammering him and sending him to the line.
After all, he's a 73-percent foul shooter in his career.
"I haven't shot free throws well since I got into the league," James said.
"(Maybe they'll try) Hack-a-Bron, or something like that."
Long road back
It's been a week since Cavs guard/forward Sasha Pavlovic sprained his left ankle in Philadelphia.
Doctors said he'd miss two to three weeks. He wants to play again this season.
Pavlovic said there's still a lot of swelling in his ankle. He said after he rolled it, it was the size of a tennis ball.
Pavlovic said all the misfortune he's faced this year should be over.
"I hope that's it," he said.
No love
Normally before games, players from opposing teams give each other high-fives and hugs. Before the games in this series, there are nothing but cold stares.
The reason is these teams don't like each other.
Arenas slowed down
Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas was held out of practice on Sunday with a sore wrist. However, he took his normal turn in Monday's game. He was shooting 40-footers in shootaround on Monday morning.
Delonte's 'steal'
Late in Game 1, the officials called for a jump ball after an apparent steal by Cavs guard Delonte West. Brown suggested the officials erred on the play.
"I'm assuming he blew his whistle early," Brown said. "I went back and watched the game tape. (West) did not break the plane (on the inbounds play). He didn't do anything but make a great steal.
"To the naked eye, you're thinking there's no way it could happen unless there was a violation on Delonte. It wasn't a violation. It was a steal by Delonte."
Coach in waiting
There's no question Cavs guard Eric Snow will eventually be a head coach. Teams are already asking about him.
"When I was young and came into the league, I was (interested in college basketball)," Snow said. "Really, as I became older and played more and got more experience, coaching (in the NBA) probably became more of an interest. Initially, it wasn't as great as people thought it was, whereas now it's a great deal of interest."
When asked if his goal is to be an NBA head coach, Snow said, "That would be a goal, yes."
Notes
Former Cavs forward Donyell Marshall, traded to Seattle on Feb. 21, was in attendance Monday. ... There was a moment of silence before the game for former official Darrel Garretson, who died on Monday. He was an NBA referee from 1967-94, and later the league's supervisor of officials. His son, Ron, is an NBA official.
