The ref got out of control.......he was making bad calls, losing control of game BECAUSE the calls were so screwed up . Cousins could and should have been thrown out of the game for trying to start a fight with Hump........even the homer announcers said it was clear Hump was good and Cousins was the aggressor .
The refs just lost a handle on the game , missing too many calls led to the frustration on both sides .their refusal to toss Cousins , was frustrating the Celtics players to no end .
Extremely poor control and intentional on part of the refs NOT to eject Cousins blatant fighting going after Hump ......letting that ride till the end of the game .......proves they knew he was guilty and had been told NOT to eject stars from the game.
Refs towing the NBA line of not punishing Star players .....nearly let the game get out of control.....and thus the panic of the ref in closing moment.
NBA should review Cousins actions and fine the ref for letting the game get out of hand .
You hit the nail right on the head. Hump stole the ball twice from cousins and was nailing those 15 footers over him. Cousins, not wanting to be shown up, started playing physical with Humphries. KH was backpedaling with his arms extended straight up over his head after Celtics scored and Cousins slammed him in the neck/face area with a forearm and the official that was standing right there never saw it. it went down hill from there. the homer announcers even stated that Hump did nothing wrong on the play.
the aggravating thing about it is the Celtics were in perfect position to win this game and they still blew it!!! Cousins has shown time and time again that when a team gets under his skin his game suffers. he gets so zoned in to arguing with the refs and he starts taking bad shots and even one game with the C'S, that I remember, he just quit!!! with everything going for them, the Celtics STILL couldn't pull it out. bad shots, missed free throws and just bad play. even Rondo can't help these guys because RR can set you up for a good shot but somebody has got to put the ball through the hole. and these guys have forgotten how to shoot!!!