Game 7 22-point swing by refs in favour of Golden State Warriors

Whether it is basketball, baseball, soccer, football, etc - all anybody wants that is competing and competing hard is consistency on the calls by the officials. If you are going to call Harden for some ridiculous moving screen where his beard brushed up against the guy then you better call the one where he is driven into the bench by Bell. Seeing stuff like that really pisses me off and it should piss anyone off that is a fan of the team getting jobbed.

 

C'mon. This thread. Jeez.

 

If this was just Rockets fans being biased then you would not see any unbiased, reputable people commenting on how one sided the calls were. A few missed calls is understandable but there were many and it was obvious. ESPN spammed social media and TV with the consecutive misses and the referee narrative was barely mentioned if at all. ABC + ESPN are both owned by DIsney. Think it’s obvious they wanted to distract fans from what happened by pushing the consecutive misss narrative. Someone powerful somewhere wanted GSW to win at any cost. Plan was executed to perfection. Klay in foul trouble at the beginning was the clearly the story in the 1st. Rockets almost pulled away like game 2 but we’re held in check by the referees. 3rd quarter GSW just needed to be even with Rox and momentum + their talent would take over in the 4th. Bad calls in 3rd we’re easy to hide since “GSW is historically dominant in the 3rd.” If you just looked at the box score and didn’t watch the game you would think it’s just a typical 3rd quarter between these teams which was not at all the case. After the game one of ESPN’s first twitter posts was All of Houston’s 27 consecutive misses compiled into one video, ESPN website front page title referred to Houston’s cold shooting. They pushed the narrative aggressively and it became the most talked about issue on every ESPN show. I am not a conspiracy theorist typically but this is just way too obvious that someone with influence wanted GSW to win and maybe had a plan beforehand if the Rockets began to cushion a lead.

 

It is a very biased, and silly thread. Someone took a few calls out of the context of the entire game, played "what if all of those calls went the other way, and everything else stayed the same" - it's silly.

There was a video of 9 calls earlier, presumably culled from the entire game as being the worst 9 calls - and some of them weren't even obviously bad calls. They were just calls that "could" have gone the other way. And some were of egregious ref-baiting by the rockets (notably Harden)

There were some questionable calls either way, but there are just as many people spouting conspiracy theories about a bunch of bad calls in the first half against the warriors, and you could put together the identical type of video of either team after every NBA game with the benefit of slow motion and closeups and multiple angles.

There wasn't a ref conspiracy, jeez. Harden is a great player, and should be MVP based on stats, but much of his game is baiting the refs into calling fouls that, upon video review later, they see they have been fooled into calling. That is one of his prime skills - and it is fine for the regular season.

For instance - in the first "call" in the 9-foul video, harden is lightly touched after a 3pt shot. He then collapses to the floor like a sniper hit him. Sure, the refs could have called a foul - they frequently call little things like that, but because A] Harden tried to over-sell it, and B] he wasn't even close to making the shot (airball) -and neither of those things was related to the contact, it just looked like Harden trying to manipulate refs - and that pisses them off sometimes. In Hockey there is an "embellishment" penalty. In the NBA, the refs don't have that. Ive someone embellishes, they just ignore them and (this is the important part) no longer give them the benefit of the doubt on close plays.

On another of the calls in the video, there is possible light contact - and it isn't even definite contact, and harden then goes up for a shot -afterwards- and badly misses. It's not even a bad or unusual call, that play happens 20 times a game and is called a foul 3 or 4 times maybe. The warriors player yanked his arm away to prevent a foul, but to MDA this looked guilty, so -he- complains to the ref, and the fact -he- complains makes many people thing it was a valid complaint.

I understand being upset, and seeing through rose colored glasses, but this thread is ridiculous. The rockets didn't pace themselves, and were simply exhausted, and couldn't hit the side of a barn after the first quarter.. Complaining about 'his fingertip might have been brushed before he stepped back and chucked up an airball - if the refs had just given him every borderline call, and a whole bunch of other things happened differently, the rockets could have won" is silly. Saying the warriors win is somehow tainted is doubly silly. Saying 'Im gonna google-bomb all references to this event for eternity so people will see that I was angry" is beyond silly.

Once the Warriors survived the initial run, Harden panicked, and started ridiculous long iso-plays, destroying any offensive flow for his team-mates. And that is his reputation among the league.

If Chris Paul had played, they may have done better. But the warriors beat the rockets by 41 pts, with Chris Paul playing a major role, just a few days earlier.

If the rockets had won the series, it would have been a huge upset. The fact they made it 7 games is GREAT. They really couldnt have asked for a better result. They should be proud of how well they did. They probably need a better coach to get over the hump though.

 

Whether Harden imbellished calls are irrelevant because they were still legit fouls on him. It is or it isn’t. Imbellishing a call should not be a factor for a referee in a foul call. Unbiased, reputable NBA players and reporters commented while watching the game said it was clearly one sided. They had no horse in the race and felt compelled to state that publicly. What game were you watching? Hockey was on so maybe you got mixed up.
Stop acting like this stuff doesn’t happen. You’re ignorant or choose to be a sheep. Here’s a history lesson:
This is from a letter written by Tim Donaghy, the point-shaving referee who was betting on NBA games he worked. He admitted this little tidbit.

“Game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings was fixed by two referees. The letter states that Donaghy "learned from Referee A that Referees A and F wanted to extend the series to seven games. Tim knew Referees A and F to be 'company men', always acting in the interest of the NBA, and that night, it was in the NBA's interest to add another game to the series."[36] The Lakers won Game 6, attempting 18 more free throws than the Kings in the fourth quarter, and went on to win the 2002 NBA Finals.”

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Donaghy

This wasn’t too long ago if we’re talking about the life span of the NBA. That was just one game that he admitted to seeing this. The two referees may still be in the league.

 

Hilarious! I remember Webber catching himself then quickly changed his tune talking about the “poise” of GS.

Also I find it odd that Marc Albert basically opened the telecast by praising the amazing officials the NBA hand selected for game 7.

GS was given a big gift. I wonder kind of gift Steve Kerr had to exchange with Adam Silver.

Oh well, maybe the Chinese Rockets fans will hack the NBA then expose all their lies and game manipulation. One last thing : Scott Foster is a disgrace and deserves to be tarred and feathered.

 

Regardless if u believe this fking game was rigged or not for the warriors on our fking homecourt. Having the shttiest ref in Scott Foster to ref the most important game of our franchise in quite sometime should make u wonder. We also have a losing record what was it 0-6 when the fker Foster ref? All these coincidence but hey we just sore losers with dem tin hats.

 

This is a great breakdown and I definitely saw all of these plays. I screamed at my tv after everyone, because they seemed to be at critical moments. Sucks beyond measure.

I hate blaming the refs, but you have to wonder what would have happened if this game was called differently.

I’m ready to see what Morey does this offseason because I’m sure he’s motivated even more now which is saying something.

Ok...deep breath, exhale, release the garbage. Let’s get it next year.

 

Kingsfan here -- in peace

I signed up here a couple days ago because I felt compelled to chime in about the officiating in GM7, but I wasn't permitted to post anything just yet.

Anyway, the 2nd and 3rd quarters of that game eerily reminded me of Kings-Lakers GM6 from the 2002 Conference Finals. While I believe that GM6 was far more egregious, this was on a completely unacceptable level too.

On a Kings board I frequent, a couple posters arued that the Rockets did it to themselves by missing 27 three in a row. While I agree that your Rockets certainly didn't shoot well, I don't know that the same thing occurs if they had a larger lead --- something they should have had. Maybe GSW misses more shots in desperation? Perhaps Houston makes more due to confidence? Nobody really knows.

I just feel that a 15 point swing (or 22 according to this thread) is quite huge in a game where margin for error is so little for both teams (and you lost by 9). A lot of the poor calls occurred during times when the Warriors needed to thwart a run and it helped keep the game close. IMO, this is what the NBA does best. Orchestrate the score in pivital games. And it's all for ratings. IMO it started when they whistled that goaltend on Capela which wasn't really even close. At the time, the Rockets were up 9 (I think?) and GSW was having trouble scoring. The free 2 helped stop a larger run. Then you mix in the myriad of non-calls on Harden's 3's and the moving screens allowing Curry to convert open three's and there's the gifted momentum swing.

I get that some bad (or missed) calls are gonna happen. It's not an easy game to officiate. But when you see the volume of overlooked calls in such a short span, it can only appear as suspicious. I also ask myself why is it always the underdog team that is on the wrong end of these types of games. I can't recall the last time I saw a star studded team cheated out of a series because of some poor officiating.

The NBA knows how to play this game. They'll make some bad calls against the favorite early on so that the foul number balance out in the end, but when it matters most --- the favorite gets the help they need. Perhaps I'm wrong, but that's what it looked like to me in quarters 2 and 3 when the Rockets were looking like they could run away with the game.

Well, the NBA got what they wanted now. Cavs-GSW for the 4th consecutive season. YAWN. But at least all the front running millennial's wearing LBJ, KD and Steph jersey's will have a vested interest. Good for them.

 

I just challenged one of my friends who is a lifelong lakers fan and was initially blaming the Rockets for all the misses losing the game. Basically said put yourself in a Kings fans shoes in 2002 and tell me how you feel. Even if that was a more obvious manipulation, the point is Foster has been a terrible official for Harden, Paul, and our team. In game 1, Ariza was in foul trouble the whole game on some absurd calls.

I also believe if Foster officiated every game in the series, we would have only won 1 game. Point being I question his background and his motivation and ties to Donaghy. More than the NBA has a whole still being involved in fixing games. Even though that clearly happened in the past.

 

I could not have put it any better.

 

I've always feel bad for you Kings fans. You are one of best fan bases in the NBA. Your team sucks (no offense) except for those few Adelman years. And you got robbed of a well-deserved championship.

When you read/watch those people who try to defend the officiating, even those who analyze each bad call and point out how they are not as bad as they look, you can see that they never put them in context. Yes, each individual bad call may be explained as ordinary controversial calls. But if you put them all in a short span of time when the Warriors most needed a swing of momentum, together with the different treatment on the opposite end (e.g. Harden's moving screen, Capela's touch on Curry's 3, etc.) you know something is not right.

The 2002 Game 6 was a little different. It happened in the 4th quarter instead of 2nd/3rd quarter. But the result was the same.

 

Funny thing, Donaghy predicted Rockets in 7 in one of the articles.

 

Game 6 to me was a bigger rigged game imho.

 

I guess some people don't understand just how much an official can influence a game. When you have someone like a Foster, you're pretty much forced to play differently, other wise you just end up giving the opposing team all the whistles.

 

That’s beautiful. Maybe the NBA is still being influenced by Donaghy. Perhaps the NBA pays attention to his picks then forces an opposite outcome.

 

Every single one of Harden's three point attempts in the video were fouls, and were in a natural shooting motion.

It simply isn't a debate. They were fouls that were not called, period.

 

I can’t even finish watching. I thought I was over this &@$? Non sense and you’ve brought it all back! I’m not sad I’m just ****ing angry.

 

Games 6 and 7 were equally shady—no doubt

First time as a lifelong Rockets fan I’ve had “that feeling” watching Rockets’ playoff games. Something was fishy and it’s not a great mystery as to why...

NBA shares revenue. This is stakeholders managing their product (“reality” theatre) via the refs...

 

The issue is, when the point difference between teams amounts to numbers close to the point difference influenced by refs the NBA looks super shady. When you add refs that are notoriously bad to the mix it all doesn't sit well. The NBA could have kept it all above board, use refs that have no conflicts or bias against the rockets in a pivotal game 7, instead, they didn't. No matter how you slice it, whether its rigged or not it doesn't look right. Bad on the NBA, and somewhat disappointing as well.