I agree, for the most part. They only need to favor one team for a few minutes during said time when the opposing team has the momentum. However, I feel that their ultimate motive isn't a bias towards one team or the other. It is just to make sure one team doesn't run away with the game early, which is sickening knowing that the league is controlling it. Again, I thought it might not have been that obvious back in 2002 because I was a diehard Kings fan, but looking at tonight, and knowing how NBA (just like NFL's recent controversial decision) is a complete corporation that is about profit margin first and foremost, I am 100% certain that they really do that and that makes me sick to my stomach.
Yep.
I understand that officials in all sports have a tough gig. And I further understand missing calls from time to time.
However, it's the amount of missed or 'ignored' calls that occur and the timing of when they occur that stand out and are unacceptable.
I already mentioned some of them.
Early on when Houston was up 9, they whistled Capela for a goaltend on Klay Thompson when it really wasn't close. There's 2 points gifted to help thwart an early run.
Then they refused to whistle 2 consecutive fouls when Harden was shooting 3's. On one of them, Jordan Bell clearly grabbed his elbow in plain view of everybody. Reggie and Chris even commented on the telecast. That's potentially 6 points erased.
Then during the pivotal 3rd quarter swing they don't give Harden continuation on a made 3 pointer (banked it in) when Klay fouled him in the act. They seemingly call that continuation 98% of the time and surely would have had Steph or KD been the shooter.
Then a few plays later they blatantly overlook about as obvious a moving screen as I've ever seen (on Jordan Bell) which allowed Steph Curry to hit an open 3 in the corner. There's another swing of potentially 7 points. And then the Warriors were off an running on a momentum change and the Rockets fell into an abyss.
In total, that's up to a 15 point swing against the Rockets. Putting it simply: That's HUGE!
For those arguing that the Rockets hurt themselves by missing what seemed like 100 three's in a row --- to me that's akin to excusing game 6 of the Kings-Lakers series by saying that the Kings still could have won in game 7. Sure, they could have but it shouldn't have even gone that far. The more chances an elite team gets, they are eventually gonna cash in.
I'm not convinced Houston misses all those three's still if they had a more comfortable lead or didn't lose momentum (and confidence) from the officiating. I do think they were idiots for continuing to jack up three's when they weren't falling and not opting to take it to the rim a few times in between ---- but that doesn't excuse all the non-calls that happened in such a short time span.