Memphis being ref-raped last night and still winning......

[Horse]

Gives me hope we can do it too. gaysol did not foul durant on that 3. And you saw all night especially in the 4th and OT that okc could get away with murder while memphis was getting called for every little thing. I hate that cocksucker stern and his puppet silver. Who wants to see okc get swept by miami anyway?

[Malik Hairston]

:lol Memphis gets away with murder, tbh..

The NBA officiating is largely reputation-based, so a "tough" team like Memphis is permitted to play physical defense that only a few other teams would be allowed to use..

If Kawhi defended Durant with the same physicality as Tony Allen, he would foul out by halftime..

The Spurs have been an elite defensive team the past 2 seasons, but they don't have the "reputation" that they had when Bowen and the 2003-2007 Spurs were permitted to play physical basketball..

[Cry Havoc]

I thought the calls last night were surprisingly even. OKC didn't even get much home meth cooking.

[313]

:lol the officiating was fine last night. The four point play was bogus, but overall the night was fine.

Game one was clearly in favor of the thunderefs, though.

I fear the refs just want to make this a close series for espn, but when OKC is in danger of losing the series they'll get OKC back in it to make Durant seem like a warrior.

[cantthinkofanything]

Gives me hope we can do it too. gaysol did not foul durant on that 3. And you saw all night especially in the 4th and OT that okc could get away with murder while memphis was getting called for every little thing. I hate that cocksucker stern and his puppet silver. Who wants to see okc get swept by miami anyway?

I'm pulling for Memphis but that looked like a pretty good call on Gasol. That no-call of a charge on OKC was pretty bad though. Although they promptly made up for it by letting Grizz kick the ball away.

[Spur|n|Austin]

I thought the calls last night were surprisingly even. OKC didn't even get much home meth cooking.

Agreed. If they missed a call one way, they wouldn't call something the other way. All in all I thought it was pretty fair called.

[Mel_13]

:lol Memphis gets away with murder, tbh..

The NBA officiating is largely reputation-based, so a "tough" team like Memphis is permitted to play physical defense that only a few other teams would be allowed to use..

If Kawhi defended Durant with the same physicality as Tony Allen, he would foul out by halftime..

The Spurs have been an elite defensive team the past 2 seasons, but they don't have the "reputation" that they had when Bowen and the 2003-2007 Spurs were permitted to play physical basketball..

Look no further than the attempted 3 pointer by Durant when OKC was down by 2 with about 30 seconds left in regulation. Allen got credit for a steal. Kawhi, or just about any other defender in the NBA, would have been called for a foul and Durant would have been at the line for 3 free throws.

[BatManu20]

The free throw disparity was heavily in favor of OKC until the last minute of regulation and last minute of OT where OKC kept intentionally fouling Memphis to put them on the line evened it up.

[spurraider21]

i hardly saw a bad call in the 2nd half... if anything they should have called a kick ball on gasol in OT :lol. the only questionable call that was against memphis was not calling a 24 second violation

[TVI]

Agreed, the officiating was decent for most of the game. The interpretation on the Durant three was insane though. Both players were going for the ball on Westbricks desperation save. It's fine to call a bump on Gasol, but that's a side out foul. To allow Durant continuation after he caught the pass defies logic. The continuation rule allows the offensive player the ability to complete a shot attempt once they are already into their shooting motion. Durant clearly wasn't into a shooting motion. I've seen officials wave off thousands of "shot attempts" for that exact same reason: the player was not into his shooting motion at the point of the foul.

[cd021]

Memphis actually got quite a few favorable calls including Marc Gasol blatantly kicking the ball, allowing Allen to recover it and call timeout in late in OT. The refs were fairly even-handed

[travis2]

I felt there was a no-call against Gasol late...he was fouled as he was driving the lane before he picked up his 5th on a charge call.

[Sean Cagney]

:lol the officiating was fine last night. The four point play was bogus, but overall the night was fine.

Game one was clearly in favor of the thunderefs, though.

I fear the refs just want to make this a close series for espn, but when OKC is in danger of losing the series they'll get OKC back in it to make Durant seem like a warrior.
Durant fouled in OT though with 35 left was bogus, the announcers said clearly a foul :lol LUCKILY the ball did not lie.

I agree on the last part too, no doubt that will happen.

[lil'mo]

Don't be crying wolf OP, last night's officiating was fine. When the officiating is biased the refs make no attempt to hide it, it is blatant and deliberate. Last night was pretty legit in my eyes, several bad calls but not in an attempt to sway the outcome of the game.

[Mugen]

Durant got away with a charge right before Gasol kicking the ball.

Officiating was fine. Marc was getting mugged down low but they were letting Allen get away with grabbing and hand checks tbh.

[DarrinS]

I think that was one of the better officiated games I've seen in OKC.

[KaiRMD1]

I think that series is going to be a very good one

[poop]

Game 3 is absolutely must-win for memphis imo. The series hinges on game 3. If ever there was a time for a 'helpful nudge' from the refs, it will be game 3.

If there is an 'agenda'- which has occured before in the NBA playoffs with absolite certainty-look for the calls to go big time for OKC in game 3. Look for a key memphis player to get in early foul trouble or to foul out.

[objective]

There was a terrible missed basket interference on a beno layup attempt that really stood out to me

[hater]

I agree think the refs were ok, mas o menos last night. Dureff and Chimp will get their share of bullshit fouls. that's a fact we all need to learn to live with. Overall it was not a terribly officiated game, lots of fluke shots by OKC to extend their demise, Memphis played a PERFECT game. I really don't see Memphis maintaining that PERFECTION throughout the series imo :(

[Spurs 4 The Win]

Seriously, this is why people think we bitch about refs too much, last night was a very fair game and any bad calls can be attributed to the expected amount of home cooking you will get (not the absurd amount the thunder usually get). It was incredibly fair and as a result, the thunder lost. The refs werent buying the flops and allowed for physical play. I never once thought the refs had won or lost the game for a team last night.

[Old School 44]

The officiating wasn't bad last night, but I have to admit, I've never seen so many falls (from OKC) after jump shots. I'm not saying they weren't getting fouled, but they do an awful lot to "sell it". When Harden was with OKC, they probably spent a lot of time perfecting it. They also do a lot of leg kickouts ala Reggie Miller and then fall down.

[pgardn]

Was Gasol's kick intentional?

It looked like the big French Lumberjack was stumbling around trying to find his shoes.

[Kidd K]

The refs weren't that bad, OKC was just VERY fortunate to keep hitting those terrible choices of shot attempt when Westbrook and Durant kept chucking contested threes towards the end there. They chucked up shots which probably had a 20% chance to hit normally, and hit them four times in a row. If not for that and that incredibly fluky prayer Durant hit, it never would've even gone to OT imo

[Horse]

Most of the game they were ok but in the closing minutes they sucked. One end charge on memphis other end no call when durant does the same thing. Then randolph gets hammered trying to put memphis ahead no call. I know they've been worse but when it really matters they tried to screw the grizz.