Doc is right:

In real time, the push didn’t look egregious, but Cog clipped the back angle from the replay, and you can clearly see the forearm extension:

Flip the play around. Imagine Marcus Smart is guarding James Harden. Smart is probably on his rear end and sliding into the crowd, yes? He would have sold that looking for the foul.

Tyrese Maxey doesn’t do it. He tries to keep his feet and stumbles backward, which suggests a legitimate attempt to stay up, play defense, and then contest the shot. That’s what should key everyone in to the fact that this was a legit push with legit forearm extension that had legit force behind it.

Plus, when you go back earlier in the playoffs, James Harden got a tech for something that may not even have been as blatant as this push. He uses the forearm and Tatum uses the forearm, and it’s part of their regular repertoire to create space, so all we’re really asking for is some consistency here. Some of these sequences are much more obvious than the others, and this one qualifies.