Lakers fans: say game was fixed?

[winsomme]

Yeah bad refs - you mean like that lack of traveling call on Vlad? Oh yeah you don't count that right? <g>

that was a traveling like when you were a kid and didn't quite understand that you needed to always be dibbling when you were moving...

or like when you are playing Horse and trying to do some crazy shot that you could only even attempt when you weren't dribbling...

if it weren't at such a crucial point of the game i would have thought it was comical. i mean he just stopped  dribbling and ran up and put the ball in....that was beyond traveling. that was a different game...

[Fan from VT]

Again, though, everyone talks about free throws. but the foul calls were only 28-21 in favor of the celtics. but if you are drawing your fouls dancing on the perimeter (lakers) vs. drawing your fouls fighting under the basket (powe, celtics) you won't shoot as many free throws. in the second half, each team was whistled for 11 fouls. l.a. has no right to complain that since they weren't attacking and working under the basket their fouls were non-shooting fouls.

[crownsy]

I thought in the first half, the game was slanted a bit in favor of the Celts.  The Lakers weren't getting the same benefit of the doubt that we were, on either side of the ball.

In the second half, as many predicted, that dynamic shifted, with the Lakers being the beneficiaries of the borderline calls.

Overall, the game was probably on balance officiated slightly in the Celtics favor, but not enough to make the difference.  The Lakers got beat because they played very poorly from midway through the first to midway through the fourth.

I agree with most of your observation. But the 2nd half call is too little too late.

However, in terms of number, it is not slightly favor the Celtics. As it turns out, Celtics actually need almost every single one of them, and they were the difference of the game.

FT attempts: LA 10, Boston 38
Fouls: LA 28, Boston 20.

yea, you guys out in la may want to tell everyone not named bryant that this is the NBA finals and that they should

A) attack the rim

b) contest th paint

because your interior defense is a joke, and were going to keep attacking.

[seccom]

Some of my favorite thoughts and theories floating around LakersGround...

- They are mad at the Celts bench for yelling at Sasha when shooting a three in front of them.  Some are calling for a technical, others just saying it's "unethical". 

- ABC fixed the game which accredited for Leon's performance.  Since they ran that piece at halftime somehow they were in control of him running the Lakers ragged and dunking all over them.  Makes sense.

- They're mad at Adande for saying that Radmonivic traveled.  He did take 6 or 7 steps guys.

- Paul Pierce is a moron.  No reason given, in fact the OP admitted to liking him before this series.  Yeah I can see how his actions so far can make you go from liking him to making him a moron, all he's done is play great basketball.

- Lamar Odom is a joke and has to go.  Well I guess I can't disagree with all of their posts.

- Boston is a racist and homophobic city.  Yeahh that's original.

Is it true for every single NBA fan forum? When their team won, they think the ref did a great job. When the their team lost, they think the ref suck.

I have no idea how the next few game will play out in LA. But it is more likely that the Lakers will get the same benefit of the doubts that the Celtics was getting yesterday. If that happen, would there be simialar complain in this forum?

[ma11l]

We will definitely complain about the refs and their calls.  However I think that we've been through enough that we've figured out their system.  We knew the refs were going to call a bunch of fouls against the Celtics to start the third quarter.  We also know that the Lakers are going to get every call in Game 3.  It will be just as annoying when it happens, but at least we can brace ourselves and know that it's coming.

[thedawg]

I managed to wake up very early in the morning (GMT +1) and watched the game and there were lots of calls in the game that made me smile as it was all in the favor of the Celtics.  I can remember Gasol scoring 2 times without getting the foul he deserved.  Kobe also got fouled few times but the ref wasn´t interested, but talking about this being fixed really are big words and comments like that should really be examined further.  To state that the Finals of the NBA are fixed is like saying something really bad about a person and spread it on the internet.  Poppycock if one word describes this situation.  Let´s see how many calls Lakers will get at home in Staples Center in the next 3 games and then let´s see what Lakers fans (and other Celtics anti-fans) say about it. 

[Kuberski33]

The Celtics definitely got the calls tonight, just like the Lakers are going to get them in Game 3. The referees are instructed to preserve home court advantage and help the series go as long as possible, IMO. Sucks, but that's how it is.

If anyone so much as breaths on Kobie in Game 3, he's going to the line.  He'll probably go for 35+ and you're spot on about preserving the home court advantage.

[lon3lytoaster]

If the NBA was going to fix the Finals... Don't you think LA would be up 2-0 right now? I mean, after all if David Stern had it his way the Lakers would play the Lakers every year in the Finals.

The Lakers defense is a freaking joke and it was exposed the first two games. The C's can get wherever they want and then draw the foul.

[vwoodruff]

To start... lifelong Celtics fan and Kool-Aid drinker... and Lakers-hater.

That said, this thread is wreaking of homer-ism. If the game had been called the opposite way, this board would be griping like crazy (see Rounds 1 & 2). It was clear that the Cs were getting hometown calls, to the point I was getting upset as a CELTICS' fan that their win might be somewhat tainted.

The calls in the first half cannot be discounted by saying that some ticky tack fouls on the perimeter against the Cs in the 2nd half made up for it. When there are consistent no-calls on drives, it changes a team's strategy, i.e. makes them more likely to settle for mid-range out shots OR forces them to attack the rim with more vigor to force the calls. The Lakers chose the first option.

It was apparent how much the refs had lost control of the game in two critical possesions in the fourth. Kobe turns the corner and is hand checked like crazy - no call and Kobe hits the j. On the Cs next possesion, Pierce posts up Kobe and Kobe - still frustrated by the no-call - WRAPS Pierce around the waist with one arm and Pierce turns the ball over on the double-team.

Yes, the Lakers need to suck it up a bit, but Stern seriously needs to do something about this. The refereeing is getting progressively worse, and I think the league is hesistant to press the issue b/c they could open up a Pandora's box when they see the seedy side of the refereeing community (see Donaghy, Tim).

I hope the refs turn up their game in Game 3. THis p---es me off...

[seccom]

If the NBA was going to fix the Finals... Don't you think LA would be up 2-0 right now? I mean, after all if David Stern had it his way the Lakers would play the Lakers every year in the Finals.

The Lakers defense is a freaking joke and it was exposed the first two games. The C's can get wherever they want and then draw the foul.

I don't think NBA has a fix on the final. However, the refs will have to give an appearent of fairness.

Regarding your comment on Lakers defense:

I think the reverse should be true. I believe they try to do too much on defense but they really do not have the players to do it.

Instead of playing more defense, they actually should gameplan for more offense. In Q4 yesterday, Philip Jackson finally went with VladRad as their 4.

[BringToughnessBack]

And Let the Excuses continue. Fouls are a part of the game, sometimes you get the calls, sometimes you don't. We can look back to many games in the playoffs vs teams like the Hawks where the foul totals were completely out of whack...oh well, as a team you deal with it and still find a way to win

I knew once we won last nights game the Excusemeter would go through the roof...I was quite happy to see us take care of Home Business and seeing the look on Phil's face was priceless...as priceless as seeing Kobe's smirks throughout the game..WAH.....WAH...WAH...I know it breaks all Celtics Fans hearts

At the very least, we come back to Boston for a Game 6, at the best, like I thought before the series started in the prediction thread, we close this thing out in LA on Sunday..Celtics in 5 still sounds about right to me!

Go Celtics...and Keep those Excuses coming Lakers Fans/Players and Coaches..it is always easier to take the blame of the mirror in front of you- The Bottomline is the Celtics deserved to win both games and they did just that..The Celtics had the best D this year, the Celtics had the best record , The Celtics played the best as a "Team", and the Celtics will still win the Finals

[spelz]

I think Boston will be in trouble in the games in LA.  The refs have been consistent throughout the whole playoffs in giving the home team the better end of the calls.  I was just wondering though - why does the NBA switch their refs every game in a series?  Wouldn't it be better to let one crew officiate the whole series ans allow the players to adjust to how the series is being called?  I think changing refs makes it harder for the players to get a feel for what is being called.

[Roy Hobbs]

I thought in the first half, the game was slanted a bit in favor of the Celts.  The Lakers weren't getting the same benefit of the doubt that we were, on either side of the ball.

In the second half, as many predicted, that dynamic shifted, with the Lakers being the beneficiaries of the borderline calls.

Overall, the game was probably on balance officiated slightly in the Celtics favor, but not enough to make the difference.  The Lakers got beat because they played very poorly from midway through the first to midway through the fourth.

I agree with most of your observation. But the 2nd half call is too little too late.

However, in terms of number, it is not slightly favor the Celtics. As it turns out, Celtics actually need almost every single one of them, and they were the difference of the game.

FT attempts: LA 10, Boston 38
Fouls: LA 28, Boston 20.

A couple things:

1) You can't just look at raw numbers, and conclude that the Lakers got jobbed.  The Celtics were the beneficiaries of more calls, but there weren't 14 or so of them, to the point of evening out the FT attempts.  The Lakers just didn't attack the basket like Boston did, and when they did, the Celtics played better interior defense.

2) I don't think the fouls were the difference in the game, because if the Celtics lead had been, say, 12 midway through the fourth, rather than 24 or 26, we would have played an entirely different fourth quarter.  The Celts let up, where they wouldn't have had this been a slightly closer game.

[coco]

Actually, I was surprised on the foul discrepancy. Deserving or not, Refs tend to "balance" their calls.

Wouldn't surprise me if KG or Perk or RAllen...or all, foul out on Game 3.

[jay_jay54]

I feel in both games so far,the Celtics were the more aggressive of the 2 teams,attacking the rack,which leads to more calls in the end.Its very simple,the team who is more aggressive offensively,especially pg going in the middle,usually gets the refs attn.When/how many times did we see D.Fisher attacking the rack?He mainly shoot threes,or close to it.