Great post.
For the record, I believe that all NBA officials are crooked - especially when it comes to the players that David Stern (hate that guy) loves (LeBron, Kobe, Dwight, Wade, etc).
Maybe I've been listening to Tommy for too long (since 2004-05), but it seems to me that the league has it out for us (and perhaps has always had it out for us). Now, before you dismiss me as an idiotic homer, I'd just like to say that I watch a lot of games with my mom - who hated the Celtics in the 70s and 80s - and even she can no longer ignore the fact that we always seem to get the short end of the deal. You know, sometimes I try to rewatch the games online and look at the contest with objectivity, and the end result is still the same, so I don't know what to say anymore.
I've also given up on trying to figure out what a foul is and is not; the calls vary from game to game over the course of the 82 game schedule, and then become totally mystifying during the postseason. I wish that it was called the same way all year long. Also, it's always funny to me that all that coaches and players are looking for from the referees is consistency. Maybe it's just me, but I don't want consistency, I want the CONSISTENT enforcement of the rules stated in the rule book. When the coaches and players say that all they're looking for is consistency from the officials, it sounds like the quote from someone in the distant past about the Supreme Court and the law (I'm paraphrasing): the law is what the Supreme Court says it is. Someone needs to say that in the NBA, the rules are what the officials say it is (from game to game). It's ridiculous. Anyway, that's my rant.
BTW, Howard should have been thrown out last night - that takedown of Perk was a blatant flagrant 2 (in addition to verbally taunting KG after impaling him with his elbow); factor in his flagrant foul on Pierce in Game 2 (for which he should have thrown out and suspended), along with his malicious elbows last night, and he should be suspended from Game 5. That punk Barnes should have been called for a technical as well, especially in light of his altercation with Garnett in Game 3 that also should have been a flagrant - I'm surprised that the refs didn't call a charge on Garnett when he was pushed into SVG (although it looked like Stan was moving, but we'll never get that call

). I mean god, at least McHale only clotheslined Rambis once

.