Celtics made mistakes, but the refs decided this game.

[Senninsage]

I don't need to tell anyone that the Celtics made mistakes, we all know they made mistakes.

However, that flagrant foul on Jermaine O'neal was huge, and helped decide this game. They got 2 free throws and the ball back, and they managed to hit a 3 pointer.

Taking into consideration the runs that the Celtics went on throughout this whole game, and that Pierce was heating up (and his importance to this team when he's in the game is not in question), only to have Jones practically go after his head, a foul far more deserving of a flagrant call than what Jermaine was called for, but it doesn't get called at all.

Pierce should have kept his cool, yes, and I suppose I understand the double tech on that play. However, all Paul Pierce did was set a perfectly good screen a couple plays later, and knowing he already had a tech, are you seriously trying to tell me that that innocent dust up with wade let to Pierce getting tossed out? We STILL had a chance to win this game, with as much as 4 minutes left in this game.

The refs really stuck it to us this game. No big, though, the Celtics have no choice, but to try and get their stuff together for the next game. We had plenty of opportunities, and we shouldn't have been in the situation that we were in, but it is a significant kick in the nuts when the Celtics play as well as they did offensively in the 3rd, and play as well as they did defensively, only to have the lead they worked so hard to cut down on, go right back up due to horrible officiating.

But, still, what can you do.

[PosImpos]

I disagree.  Some really bad calls killed our momentum at times, and the refs certainly made this game about them instead of the players.  However, this game was lost before the refs really got involved.  The Heat came out and dominated the Celtics in the first half.  The Celtics did not come out ready to play (boy, when have I heard that before?) and they got smoked before the second half even started.

[hpantazo]

I disagree.  Some really bad calls killed our momentum at times, and the refs certainly made this game about them instead of the players.  However, this game was lost before the refs really got involved.  The Heat came out and dominated the Celtics in the first half.  The Celtics did not come out ready to play (boy, when have I heard that before?) and they got smoked before the second half even started.

the celtics came out half asleep, yes, but they made multiple great comebacks, all of which were stopped by the refs, not the heat. The "flagrant" on JO and the 2 no called flagrants on Jones and Wade ruined the game and gave it to the heat, plain and simple.

[Change]

Well Celtics have to overcome. No doubt Officiating was one-sided, It will make Series victory much sweeter.

[hilltopchamps]

It is very disturbing to me how year after year the officials really gang up on the Celtics and really help the other team win. I know that David Stern is a Celtic hater, and he tells the refs to officiate some of these playoff games against the Celtics. It is so obvious at the free throw line. How many more shots the Celtic opponents get at the line. The Heat went to the line 32 times to the C's 18. And throwing out Paul Pierce in the 4th quarter in Game 1.

[Celticsfan336]

I disagree.  Some really bad calls killed our momentum at times, and the refs certainly made this game about them instead of the players.  However, this game was lost before the refs really got involved.  The Heat came out and dominated the Celtics in the first half.  The Celtics did not come out ready to play (boy, when have I heard that before?) and they got smoked before the second half even started.

the celtics came out half asleep, yes, but they made multiple great comebacks, all of which were stopped by the refs, not the heat. The "flagrant" on JO and the 2 no called flagrants on Jones and Wade ruined the game and gave it to the heat, plain and simple.

I agree 100%.

But their was one point when it was an 8 point game or so, we were getting stops, and Paul missed an open 3, and an open jumper, KG missed an open jumper, and jermaine missed a post up fadeaway.

The refs were terrible, Rondo didnt play good at all.....but really when it all comes down to it we still had chances and we didnt hit the big shots (besides Ray in the corner)

[Celtics17]

I will preface this discussion by saying first that Pierce getting ejected was a terrible call. Teams play almost 100 games, counting preseason, to get to this point and games, series, titles should not be decided by poor officiating.

That being said, how can you make 20 million dollars a year and not have the sense to keep your cool in this situation? Players Never get in actual fights so that is not even in the discussion. Pierce should have not been even remotely close to a T for either play. He should have simply ignored the hard foul, stepped to the line and made Miami pay. All of this false bravado is crazy.

I have been in many situations in real life that were potential altercations and still managed to keep my cool. I have had my life threatened (seriously), been attacked with weapons, called everything you can think of, and still I was able to keep my cool and manage to get out of the situation without getting hurt or hurting anyone.

I dont buy the notion that Pierce needed to do anything but ignore the hard fouls and just play. Be a cerebral player Paul and not a reactionary one.

[JT11]

I'm not sure. The officiating was awful, yeah, but we were clearly outplayed. I think we would have lost anyway. Then again, the officiating is supposed to be good enough so that fans don't have to sit around and postulate about whether a team would have "lost anyway" or "won anyway."

[GreenEnvy]

I will preface this discussion by saying first that Pierce getting ejected was a terrible call. Teams play almost 100 games, counting preseason, to get to this point and games, series, titles should not be decided by poor officiating.

That being said, how can you make 20 million dollars a year and not have the sense to keep your cool in this situation? Players Never get in actual fights so that is not even in the discussion. Pierce should have not been even remotely close to a T for either play. He should have simply ignored the hard foul, stepped to the line and made Miami pay. All of this false bravado is crazy.

I have been in many situations in real life that were potential altercations and still managed to keep my cool. I have had my life threatened (seriously), been attacked with weapons, called everything you can think of, and still I was able to keep my cool and manage to get out of the situation without getting hurt or hurting anyone.

I dont buy the notion that Pierce needed to do anything but ignore the hard fouls and just play. Be a cerebral player Paul and not a reactionary one.

Regardless of how much money a player makes, making a statement after a foul should not warrant a technical. Not when you are a star. Especially if you are a superstar. And definitely if you already have a technical.

The refs panicked all game long with their quick/non-calls.

Doesn't matter now though. Looking forward to Tuesday.

[Marcus13]

The refs didn't help us by any means, but we were down double digits before that.

Truthfully, Pierce should have been ejected on the first tech and I'll be surprised if he isn't suspended for Game 2.  It's literally the exact same thing ZaZa from Atlanta got suspended for in the last series against Orlando

[jpurthe1]

If PP and Wade got a double technical, why was it not a flagrant.

JO got a flagrant for something similar a block to the body.

Pathetic... Miami played better and most likely would have won but the refs have to step off or alienate fans all together.

[Senninsage]

I disagree.  Some really bad calls killed our momentum at times, and the refs certainly made this game about them instead of the players.  However, this game was lost before the refs really got involved.  The Heat came out and dominated the Celtics in the first half.  The Celtics did not come out ready to play (boy, when have I heard that before?) and they got smoked before the second half even started.

So, you're seriously trying to tell me that this game was over with about at 2:30 left in the 3rd quarter, and the Celtics were only down by 9? That's when Jermaine O'neal got hit with that horrible flagrant call, which led to 2 foul shots and a 3, erasing 5 points off the lead the Celtics worked to drop. The Celtics would have likely been fighting back from a much smaller lead than the one they actually had to fight back from in the 4th, if that call isn't made.

Calls like that are significant. How exactly would this game be any different from games where the Celts were down by 15 at the half to teams like the Knicks, and then fought their way back in the 3rd and 4th? Fact is, a Flagrant foul, leading to 2 shots and the ball back, isn't your typical bad foul call, that kind of call is heavily influential on a game.

Take away that call, and the Celtics actually get the Heat down to a smaller lead, and have a serious shot to win this game. The runs the Celtics made to drop the lead in the 3rd and 4th are clear evidence of this fact. And when a team sees their lead slipping away, that has a mental effect on a team, and the Celts were denied the chance they clearly played hard to get against this Heat team tonight.

I'm not making an excuse, the Heat played well, but calls on the magnitude of that Jermaine O'neal flagrant was a huge deciding factor in this game, period.

[Green Hell]

We had our chance at securing Home Court and having the biased officiating be in our favor but we managed to blow it all away in the last month of the season. You have no right to complain about officiating now if your not willing to place just as much blame on the Celtics for putting themselves in this position.

[ManUp]

2 calls I can't get over. The J.O. flagrant, and Pierce getting tossed. I wasn't aware that JO perfected the 1 inch shoulder check (the shoulder version of the 1inch punch) that could knock a grown man off his feet with amazing force. Luckily the refs saw through what otherwise looks like a routine bump of a player running through the lane.

Pierce basically got tossed for standing his ground and not getting punked. People always talk about oh you should walk away and all that other crap, but in reality when that happens you look like Dirk Nowizki, and your toughness will always be challenged.

[soap07]

Pierce basically got tossed for standing his ground and not getting punked. People always talk about oh you should walk away and all that other crap, but in reality when that happens you look like Dirk Nowizki, and your toughness will always be challenged.

Well,  I'm just glad Paul looked tough, because in the grand scheme of things, that's the kind of thing that matters.