Yeah, but the thing is, the officiating really doesn't change for the playoffs. The game is still essentially the same, only being played by two good teams each and every game.
The bottom line here is that the Rockets cant do what got them here because of the change in physicality allowed by the refs. A foul is a foul according to the rules no matter if its the first game of the season or the 7th game of the NBA finals and the refs simply aren't calling them. That completely wrecks the Rockets offensive philosophy and marginalizes their best player from the NBA's most efficient offensive force to a glorified jump shooting turnover machine. All the while Kia & State Farm get a call whenever they decide to force one.
Is that really true that the way games are reffed changes in the playoff vs regular season? I know what changes - the team and players and the game plans (which I would bet include playing at the edge of legal nba officiating rules as long as it's to your advantages). The game slow down because everyone increase their effort - play with more discipline, less likely to throw balls away or make simple mistakes, less likely to not play high level of defense, less likely to play with low energy, etcs. The game plans (hello coach!) also changes to focus on stopping the other team weapon and increasing their own team offense. With that increase in focus, effort and defense and pinpoint game planning (you would hope you have such a coach), there is no longer such thing as easy baskets and as with regular season, when a team play aggressive solid defense, the ref adjust to that type of defense (for both team). I think ref doesn't change, just how team and players play in the playoff and how the game plans change specifically against an opponent in a 7-game series yield the illusion that the ref has changed because of their adjustments to how teams play in the playoff. Of course, when you have a coach that doesn't do anything to prepare the team for the playoff, you suffer including in how the ref seems to be biased against you.
Yes I do believe the game is officiated differently in the playoffs than in the regular season. I don't believe this is the opinion of a bitter few (me included) either. Many people have complained over the years (i.e. Dallas and Carlisle constantly gripe about it) about how there is more clutching and grabbing or that jostling for rebounds is more intense in the playoffs. The networks and the NBA sell it as playoff intensity and drama when more likely the refs are just swallowing their whistles. In addition, there is an understanding that referees have biases. One only has to look at some of the studies presented in areas such as at the Sloan Sports Conference to find studies that see that certain refs are documented to be biased towards certain calls or affected by home crowds or elimination games etc. Now here lies the problem for the Rockets. Soft teams or new teams have a tendency to whine and complain and give in while the good ones fight through it because of better coaching and/or team mentality. That's why we suffer. Clippers actually are also like us...when calls don't go their ways they suffer greatly. But it is a differently-called game.
