The referees became public enemy No. 1 in the Bay following the proceedings of Game 6.
Pandemonium broke out when the typically stoic Stephen Curry fouled out for the first time in nearly three years. After topping out at four fouls across his 95 appearances this season, Curry battled foul trouble for most of the night before picking up his sixth late in the fourth quarter.
Curry punctuated the moment by charging at the official, picking up his first-career ejection, then whipping his dangling mouth guard at a Cavaliers fan sitting courtside. Curry's wife cried conspiracy, Curry's coach slammed the officiating, and the two-time MVP limped out of Cleveland with an embarrassing defeat.
Steve Kerr and Curry complained that the referees were uncharacteristically stingy with several of their decisions. Put aside superstar privilege - Curry was getting the whistle of a career journeyman in the opinion of the Warriors.
There's certainly plenty of grey area when it comes to officiating, so here's a compilation of Curry's six fouls from Thursday night.
First foul - Loose-ball foul
There was little to interpret with Curry's first foul. He got caught on a switch against Tristan Thompson, and threw him to the ground after losing out inside rebounding position to a substantially stronger player.
Curry had no choice to take the foul, and he gave no complaint to the official. It was a tactical move.
Second foul - Blocking foul
The Cavaliers hunted the diminutive guard with the knowledge that he couldn't play aggressively following his early foul. The Warriors responded by hiding Curry on the most benign threat in J.R. Smith, but the Cavaliers cleverly used Smith to screen for LeBron James.
Curry tried to hedge high on James to give Andre Iguodala more time to recover, but James beat him to the spot before the collision came, and a bemused Curry was hit with his second foul. He was none too pleased with the decision.
Like most blocking fouls, it was a bang-bang play that could have gone either way. James got the call on his home court.
Third foul - Reach-in foul
Curry looked to be in the clear as he was nearing the end of the first half with just two fouls, but then he made a poor decision to gamble.
Curry got snagged on a high screen, which left him a step behind Kyrie Irving on the perimeter. Curry rushed back to guard the play, but he was on Irving's back and reached around attempting a steal while Irving rose up for the shot.
It wasn't much of a bump, but any contact with someone in their shooting motion will be penalized. As a shooter, Curry knows that all too well. He put himself in a vulnerable position and forced the officials to make a decision.
Fourth foul - Loose-ball foul
Once again, Curry found himself tasked with the assignment of boxing out a power forward, but got caught ball watching. That allowed Kevin Love to wedge himself into a scrum for the ball, and Curry tapped Love's elbow twice before being called for a loose-ball foul.
Given how physical Game 6 was, especially inside the paint, punishing Curry for a routine rebound battle was rather harsh. Curry could do nothing but shake his head while chomping in anger at his mouth guard.
Fifth foul - Reach-in foul
With the Warriors riding a bit of momentum to start the fourth quarter, Curry once again made a calculated gamble. The league leader in steals reached around a driving Irving, before taking off down the court for what looked to be two easy points.
But instead, Curry was called back on account of a reach-in foul. That decision left Curry hopping mad as he sauntered back into the play.
Curry did make contact with Irving when he reached around his body, but he did get the ball and those challenges are routinely unpunished. However, Irving losing his footing after being stripped made for an incriminating visual.
Sixth foul - Loose-ball foul
The final blow came courtesy of The King. Curry poked it free, then battled James for the loose ball, but James lost his balance and Curry was penalized.
That final decision sent Curry overboard. He charged at the official and was immediately tossed out. Curry also picked up a $25,000 fine when he whipped his mouth guard at the son of one of the Cavaliers' minority team owners sitting courtside.
