The only questionable calls tonight where the flagrant (which Shaq went for ball and got mostly face) and the out of bounds call. I'm glad the guard play decided the game rather than Bavetta.
The flagrant foul was atrocious. We'd be pissed if the refs made a call like that against us. Hell there'd be like 20 threads about it. Phil should have shut the hell up. That one point ended up hurting LA badly, because it made it a 4-pt (2 possession) game in the final minute of OT. But you're right about the out of bounds call with 22 secs left in regulation. We were down two. Yao was nowhere near the ball, and they said it went off him. Absurd call that almost cost us the game had it not been for Steve's heroics.
So, (bad flagrant foul call against LA) - (bad out-of-bounds call against HOU) = 0 = net influence that the referees had on the outcome of the game? okay i'm happy. we won fair and square.
This is what O'Neal had to say after the game: "The unfortunate thing is it had to be decided by them,'' O'Neal said of the officials. "A whole bunch of people who paid a lot of money had to see a game that was decided by someone who doesn't make a lot of money. That's unfortunate.''
Please, more like Francis burning Fisher time and time again down the court. The Lakers need somebody that can guard small quick guards...Fisher couldn't guard a fire hydrant.
I normally don't get upset about the refs (part of the game and usually balances out)...but earlier on there were 2 clearly missed fouls on Shaq (his shoulder into Kelvin and his arm clearing Yao out) and two made in Kobe's favor (when he was lost behind the basket and when Cuttino went airborne). It DID finally sum to zero...at the end.
