By Chris Sheridan
ESPN Insider

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — I’m not going to kill Cleveland Cavaliers coach Mike Brown harder than anybody else in this column — I’ll save that honor for the referees — for biting his tongue after the Eastern Conference finals Game 2 loss, 79-76, to the Detroit Pistons on Thursday, although I think he did his team a disservice by trying to take the high road by refraining from criticizing the officials in the interview room afterward.

“We’re a no-excuse team,” Brown said, a line that was echoed minutes later by LeBron James.

But make no mistake, the Cavs were absolutely livid at the lack of a call when James drove to the basket with eight seconds left and was hacked numerous times by Richard Hamilton, including a rake across his arm as he went for the shot everyone had been waiting three days to see if he would take.

I asked Hamilton in the locker room afterward if he had fouled James on the play, and Hamilton couldn’t stifle a cackle before he gave his answer: “Nah, you know. I just put my hands up.”

And let the record show that he cackled at the end of that answer, too.

Read the rest of the story!