WOW, The big Fix in game one.

[RebusRankin]

My take the officiating was terrible and one sided. This does affect the outcome. However so do missing shots and turnovers. So to conclude: the officials were a factor in the loss but not the sole cause.

[Roy Hobbs]

So to conclude: the officials were a factor in the loss but not the sole cause.

Yep.

[Billz401]

i think what anyone on here fails to realize that someone posted earlier, is that playing with 4-5 fouls is ALOT different than playing with 2-3. It's always in the back of your mind that if i drive and get a charge im done or i cant be as physical with lebron or shaq because with the refs being so 1-sided i may get another foul and im done. these types of things are constantly running thru their minds and to say that they should have attacked the paint more in the second half is true but it is also tru that the horrid and 1-sided officiating decides whether or not a player will be as physical. by just 1 bad call on rondo, they took him out of the game. i really do believe if that bs charge on rondo was actually a blocking foul and a 3-pt play then it would have been a totally different 4th quarter. and another thing that ticks me off is when 1 official, who is completely blocked from seeing the play, will call a foul and the other officials who have a better vantage point wont correct the bad call because they dont want to embarrass them or make them look like a bad ref and blah blah blah. you never see this anymore... just make the correct call guys

[FLCeltsFan]

I know that sometimes I can be like Tommy and see all the blown calls on the Celtics but miss the blown calls on the other team.  I usually go by the reaction from the boards on both sides.  If both sides are claiming that the refs are out to get them, then the game is probably fairly evenly but poorly called.  If no one is complaining then it is probably evenly and well called.  But, when one team is complaining and the other one is talking about all the favorable calls, then you know that one of the teams is getting treated unfairly.  Here are some comments I took from the Cavs boards last night for my comments from the other side post:

  

 I'm not even a Boston fan, I just enjoy basketball. Doesn't it get a little annoying though that LeBron can just lower his head, throw his elbows out and draw fouls and then complain every time he doesn't go to the line? I LOVE LeBron and respect his game a lot, but dang he gets too much respect from the refs and complains more than Perkins.

    Boston bigs in BIG foul trouble

    Cavs are getting really favorable calls and still getting spanked.

    Refs bailing us.

    Terrible call, Rondo had very good reason to complain.

    Celtics in HUGE FOUL trouble.

    Loving the foul trouble on Celts

    The refs are the only thing keeping the Cavs in the game.

    I've never seen us get calls like this.

    How many Celts get 35k fines from the league tonight

So, even the Cavs fans were admitting that the refs were keeping them in the game.  

Yes, the Celtics played poorly in the second half and that was the reason they lost, not the bad calls.  If they play well, they can win in spite of the bad calls.  But, the bad calls and having most of your team in foul trouble does make a difference in how a team plays.  They just are less aggressive when they get in foul trouble for the most part. And that 4th foul on Rondo, which even got the Cavs fans upset because it was so bad, gave Mo the opening to go on a run.  So it did influence the game. 

 The Celtics are not well loved by the referees and so they have to learn to play through foul  trouble and through bad calls and not let that take away their aggressiveness like they did last night.  

[MaxwellSmart86]

Everything is relative and relevant in Life and in Basketball!

Celtics could have won the game if they had just stuck to the game plan and been more aggressive defensively and pass the ball better in the 2nd half.  Having said that,  I jumped out of my sofa at least 3 times tonight yelling at the refs and I never do that!  

A few people mentioned the Rondo offensive foul, which was so blatantly a wrong call. That is in itself, seems like only 2 points. However, consider the ramifications of just one simple play.  With the correct call here, Rondo does not get into foul trouble in the 3rd with 4 fouls and Doc leaves him in the game and the Celtics perhaps avoid that big Cavs run. Or perhaps, Rondo plays more aggressively defensively on Williams because he is not any foul trouble.  So as I mentionned, everything is relative and relevant!

A few of the more blatant bad calls in this game are as follows:

1. Hickson steps on the sideline near the basket as he is driving and the referee is 10 feet away also on the sideline and does not make a call!  I saw it clearly from HD screen in slow motion as did Doc and most of the Celtics bench.

2. With Boston down a couple in the 4th quarter, Pierce drives to the basket and he Lebron bumps Pierce in mid air with all the weight of his body and forces Paul to shoot a wild shot off the backboard and there is no call!

3. Late in the 4th quarter with Boston down by 4, Rondo makes a hard pass to Perk near the basket and it goes off his hands and starts to go out of bounds. perk lunges for it as does Jamison. The ball and Perk are mving from left to right and you see that all of a sudden the ball changes direction and goes from right to left. Physics dictates only an object moving in that direction could cause the ball to change that direction - Jamison's hand.  Again this was so visible in slow motion on my HD screen. The referee was was 8 feet away.

I feel sick to my stomach right now.  I turned channels as soon as th game ended and refused to watch the post game interviews or announcer commentaries.  I feel like the invisible hand was at work tonight.

I do however think the Celtics will win game 2 in spite of the referees and they will be focused for the whole 48 minutes and and Paul will have a much better game as will the bench!

TP...but you forgot to mention the ball of LeBron--that of course the refs called CAVS BALL---even Reggie says--That was off LeBron!...and KG gets fouled by Shaq going to the hoop right around the same time LeBron fouled Pierce..NO CALLS.

I mean, KG, Pierce and Ray COMBINED for TWO Freaking Free Throws-!  Ridiculous.

[BBS]

I have no idea why or how people can say the NBA is'nt rigged.  Ever heard of "SUPERSTAR CALLS" or watch a game and here the commentators say they (meaning the refs) arnt gonna call that on Jordan, Kobe, Shaq, Lebron, ect, ect,. the NBA has done this since the early 90's at least and not once has the NBA ever come out and denied the or refuted these comments. In fact I say since the NBA pays these commentators to do these games then it's an admission to said corruption. If 10 players step on the court I don't care who it is they all should be on a level playing feild. Just cuz 1 player is better than the other nine doesn't mean that the guys calling fouls should change, bend,or overlook the rules for that1 player. I think that something needs to be done about this blatant corruption in the NBA  

[celticinorlando]

boston won't get calls in this series. the nba/espn/abc want lebrick vs kobe and they want an orlando vs cleveland ECF. i will wager that james will not have more than 2 fouls in any game in this series. he is going to get every touch foul while bulldozing his way to the rim.

[liam]

boston won't get calls in this series. the nba/espn/abc want lebrick vs kobe and they want an orlando vs cleveland ECF. i will wager that james will not have more than 2 fouls in any game in this series. he is going to get every touch foul while bulldozing his way to the rim.

Wagering on fixed games is against NBA policy and the losers of all bets will be fined. The winnings and the losings will be given to the Commish. The NBA were caring for "product" happens.

[celticinorlando]

it just wasn't the fouls...how many times did cleveland get the ball side out after it went off them? i counted 3 or 4.....those 50/50 plays add up

[incoherent]

I know that sometimes I can be like Tommy and see all the blown calls on the Celtics but miss the blown calls on the other team.  I usually go by the reaction from the boards on both sides.  If both sides are claiming that the refs are out to get them, then the game is probably fairly evenly but poorly called.  If no one is complaining then it is probably evenly and well called.  But, when one team is complaining and the other one is talking about all the favorable calls, then you know that one of the teams is getting treated unfairly.  Here are some comments I took from the Cavs boards last night for my comments from the other side post:

 

  I'm not even a Boston fan, I just enjoy basketball. Doesn't it get a little annoying though that LeBron can just lower his head, throw his elbows out and draw fouls and then complain every time he doesn't go to the line? I LOVE LeBron and respect his game a lot, but dang he gets too much respect from the refs and complains more than Perkins.

    Boston bigs in BIG foul trouble

    Cavs are getting really favorable calls and still getting spanked.

    Refs bailing us.

    Terrible call, Rondo had very good reason to complain.

    Celtics in HUGE FOUL trouble.

    Loving the foul trouble on Celts

    The refs are the only thing keeping the Cavs in the game.

    I've never seen us get calls like this.

    How many Celts get 35k fines from the league tonight

So, even the Cavs fans were admitting that the refs were keeping them in the game. 

Yes, the Celtics played poorly in the second half and that was the reason they lost, not the bad calls.  If they play well, they can win in spite of the bad calls.  But, the bad calls and having most of your team in foul trouble does make a difference in how a team plays.  They just are less aggressive when they get in foul trouble for the most part. And that 4th foul on Rondo, which even got the Cavs fans upset because it was so bad, gave Mo the opening to go on a run.  So it did influence the game. 

 The Celtics are not well loved by the referees and so they have to learn to play through foul  trouble and through bad calls and not let that take away their aggressiveness like they did last night. 

repost for effect

[FallGuy]

The Celtics will probably get a game where the refs help them out.

They need to focus on the things they can control.

Anything else is a red herring.

[twinbree]

boston won't get calls in this series. the nba/espn/abc want lebrick vs kobe and they want an orlando vs cleveland ECF. i will wager that james will not have more than 2 fouls in any game in this series. he is going to get every touch foul while bulldozing his way to the rim.

Yeah this is my thing. The probability was high going into the series we were not going to get the calls against the Cavs. Which team does? They just need to learn to stay focused all game regardless of the score or the quarter or what the refs are doing.

Easier said than done I know but like Doc says if they have to foul out by staying aggressive then foul out. Being tentative to avoid fouls is pointless when ticky tacky fouls are being called because odds are you'll get called for one anyway no matter how careful you are. If we lose the series because our starters foul out each game by the end of the 3rd while the Cavs starters get to finish the game then so be it. It'll just highlight what a joke the NBA officiating has become.

[twinbree]

I know that sometimes I can be like Tommy and see all the blown calls on the Celtics but miss the blown calls on the other team.  I usually go by the reaction from the boards on both sides.  If both sides are claiming that the refs are out to get them, then the game is probably fairly evenly but poorly called.  If no one is complaining then it is probably evenly and well called.  But, when one team is complaining and the other one is talking about all the favorable calls, then you know that one of the teams is getting treated unfairly.  Here are some comments I took from the Cavs boards last night for my comments from the other side post:

  

 I'm not even a Boston fan, I just enjoy basketball. Doesn't it get a little annoying though that LeBron can just lower his head, throw his elbows out and draw fouls and then complain every time he doesn't go to the line? I LOVE LeBron and respect his game a lot, but dang he gets too much respect from the refs and complains more than Perkins.

    Boston bigs in BIG foul trouble

    Cavs are getting really favorable calls and still getting spanked.

    Refs bailing us.

    Terrible call, Rondo had very good reason to complain.

    Celtics in HUGE FOUL trouble.

    Loving the foul trouble on Celts

    The refs are the only thing keeping the Cavs in the game.

    I've never seen us get calls like this.

    How many Celts get 35k fines from the league tonight

So, even the Cavs fans were admitting that the refs were keeping them in the game.  

Yes, the Celtics played poorly in the second half and that was the reason they lost, not the bad calls.  If they play well, they can win in spite of the bad calls.  But, the bad calls and having most of your team in foul trouble does make a difference in how a team plays.  They just are less aggressive when they get in foul trouble for the most part. And that 4th foul on Rondo, which even got the Cavs fans upset because it was so bad, gave Mo the opening to go on a run.  So it did influence the game.  

 The Celtics are not well loved by the referees and so they have to learn to play through foul  trouble and through bad calls and not let that take away their aggressiveness like they did last night.  

Wow TP for posting this. Calls must have been worse than I thought if some Cavs fans who I'm sure must be used to getting favorable calls actually noted it.

[Witch-King]

Notice how LeBron was absolutely COLD by the end of the first quarter but the refs were giving him calls from early on. Glen Davis was playing well but he had 4 fouls by halftime so he couldn't really contribute later in the game. Rondo Owned LeBron statistically so why doesn't he get 'Superstar' calls? LeBron has appeared in the NBA Finals before any of the Big 3 or Rondo, and he played terribly last night yet he still gets to be 'The Man' in the post-game interview. The NBA is a joke.

[FallGuy]

Notice how LeBron was absolutely COLD by the end of the first quarter but the refs were giving him calls from early on. Glen Davis was playing well but he had 4 fouls by halftime so he couldn't really contribute later in the game. Rondo Owned LeBron statistically so why doesn't he get 'Superstar' calls? LeBron has appeared in an NBA Finals before any of the Big 3 or Rondo, and he played terribly last night yet he still gets to be 'The Man' in the post-game interview. The NBA is a joke.

I understand you're frustrated. But why bother watching it then? If that's how you really feel?