Yes, it doesn't seem obvious on real time because of the angle of the TV shot and how fast it happen. But watch the replay and you see an obvious forearm extending to push Sergio off balance.
Sergio wouldn't just fall to the ground with a simple bump.
It was obvious in real time, more so actually.
This is my opinion on the issue and always has been my opinion: You don't bail out the refs or make excuses for their faults. You include them as factors.
Thus, Ime bricking FTs cost the team the game, but so did poor officiating.
I get really tired of multiple cases of questionable calls in a game being excused because somebody can point to one play not involving the refs. Everything is a factor, everything decides outcomes and officials have a compounding factor on games*.
Ime needs to hit a free throw. Sergio shouldn't be guarding in that scenario. Maybe it was because Donte and JT were fouled out, but Beno/Hawes/Casspi/Noc/Kenny is probably better. And the refs need to call the rules of the game, not make Donaghy look like a betting genius.
*Something that happened partially in this game and happens in others is that if a team isn't getting sent to the line when they are going to the hole, while the other team is, the team not getting calls starts to fall back on outside shots. The Kings started doing that, but were luckily hitting their threes. The annoying part of this, is media/fans say "well they stopped going to the hole" which is effect of the act and not the cause. See this mistake by observers all the time.
