To me it’s no doubt that the refs decided at half time / after the 1st quarter that they were not going to call fouls on the Warriors and make sure there’s a game 7. Even when they did, it was mostly on bench players. So obvious that once a bench player came in the game they killed the ticky-tack stuff, to make up for the normal fouls /hacks / grabs/ pushes etc. It wasn’t just one or two calls, a momentum changing one here and there, it was a complete stop to calling anything. The Warriors supposedly committed 1 foul in the 3rd. Not even a Warriors fan can look at the game or just that stat and say that doesn’t look fishy. Harden went from 9 to 0 FT attempts, even though he drove hard to the rim. Same with Gordon. It didn’t have the intensity of the 2002 Lakers Kings game, but it came damn close. In my opinion it was rigged, the league sent Mauer and Malloy - 2 refs they have in their pocket - to make sure the Warriors would win and thus the Rockets were never going to win lest a miracle happened. So simple question: did the refs stop the Rockets from winning? There’s no in between here, it’s yes or no.
Referees Suck Chant Started in the 2nd Quarter since than nothing but Light Touch Fouls on Kevin Durant. James Harden repeatedly got fouled driving to paint. No Foul. Ken Mauer and Ed Malloy are there in Top 10 Worst Referees. Before the game started Ken Mauer and Ed Malloy I thought they are both terrible. Rockets quit and stopped trying late in the 3rd Qtr. I personally think the Rockets are the better team in this series. But Referees Constant whistle in Basketball Games are more Rigged than any Sport. I don't think the Rockets will win Game 7, we barely won against them by 3 or 4 points with Chris Paul. If Chris plays at all, I think we have a slight chance. The Rockets are forcing him to sit which I don't think is a good idea. Let him play in Game 7. If at all Rockets advance Let him sit out games 1 and 2.
There were some questionable calls and some downright terrible calls for sure but you can’t blame the refs when we lose by 29. The unforced turnovers, missed FT’s, layups and 3’s with selfish play in the 3rd quarter was a killer. Klay and Steph not capable of missing on top of that meant game over.
the refs decided to stop calling fouls on the Rockets which made it damn near impossible for them to score and ultimately resulted in them letting up on defense due to being demoralized Harden drives like 15 times in game 6 but can only get 3 freethrows off those drives with all that contact? Bullsh*t.
the refs have been sh*t all series. There's just no denying that. But we lost because we turned the ball over way too much. You can't turn the ball over 20+ times against Golden State and expect to win. Once the Warrior's shots starting falling we stopped moving the ball and reverted back to late shot clock ugly iso basketball. We slowed the pace, playing right into Golden State's hands. No transition points; no fast break points. And we lost our defensive intensity for much of the 2nd half. That's why we lost; not the refs.
i still think the league office wants a worriers vs lebrick finals...Harden is hated by general fans and media for stupid reasons NBA is all about story lines( its love child golden state and lebrick) they might as well turn into WWE.. **** THEM ALL
People who say the refs don’t affect the outcome of a 29pt game simply didn’t watch the second and third quarters closely enough. When officials make a conscious decision to swallow the whistle for one side in an effort to get the game closer and then allow one team to have wide open shots on the other end of the floor, that’s clearly tampering. It’s clearly manipulation and as a player when you get that feeling that there’s been an edict on high to keep you down, then that’s endlessly demoralizing. The NBA is the most highly manipulated league outside the WWE. In my youth I would have been depressed about the rig being against us but I’m older now. There’s just no way for me to be as emotionally invested one way or another. Even if the Rockets win it won’t be as sweet. Because deep down I know that somebody in the league office signed off on it.
Exactly how I've felt for the last several years. Where's the NBA's #MeToo movement? I will say that in last night's game we were gassed after three quarters, but playing 5 on 8 can take the spark out of a team. Just gotta nut up for game seven, hit our shots, and refs be damned.
We lost by 30, no matter how you swing it, not sure they were a 30 pt difference. Were they awful? Yes. But looked more to me like we just ran out of gas. We missed wide open shots in second half also. Let’s say we lose by 10, then I’m all for blaming the refs. Rockets lost cuz they left Klay Thompson wide open over and over again and turned the ball over too many times. Even if you count the ones we didn’t called on we probably still had like 16 turnovers. Things like Gerald Green just dribbling ball out of bounds can’t happen on the road against the warrriors without CP3 and expect a win. Defensive lapses and short shots equates to fatigue. Dantonis 6-7 man rotations do not bode well for this game 7 coming up.
Refs really hurt us from building on a lead, but that being said....the Warriors crushed us in the second half, as Klay was on fire. 16 and 9...in the second half will not get it done. 40 point swing...facepalm
I hope someone criticizes MDA because it is easy to let him off the hook because of a highly successful regular season. And because Bzedelik was the main catalyst for Defense.
As much as I like a good old-fashioned conspiracy theory with my tinfoil hat on, the referees didn't make the Rockets commit 21 turnovers and play poor defense on Curry and Thompson leaving them wide open for threes.
It was stupid. Had the refs played it level, Warriors could have still won. But they (league) panicked and decided to kill any momentum the Rockets could muster. Funny how the calls became unfairly biased after halftime. The Rockets were up at half time and even without Paul were playing solid. The nightmare was real that the Rockets could win it. The whistle stop the Rockets and any chance they had.
