After getting tangled up with the Raptors’ Fred VanVleet in the second quarter of Game 1, LeBron James decided to give him a little shove after the fact. It was the kind of contemptuous gesture LeBron has had for the entire conference, and much of the league, for close to a decade. After being run ragged by the Pacers in Round 1, it also fit with LeBron’s cranky mood of late.
But this time around, owing to the Raptors’ and FVV’s renewed attitude, the undersized guard had to be restrained from getting right back into the King’s face.