Los Angeles Lakers 110, Boston Celtics 109
OK consipracy theorists. It’s time to stoke the flames!
- During the final possession of the game, Derek Fisher looked like he had his hands on Ray Allen. No call there.
- Adding insult to injury, flu-bitten Kevin Garnett fouled out with 4:22 remaining in regulation.
- Lamar Odom got fouled with his team trailing 109-108 with 16 seconds left in overtime. He hit both free throws.
OK, the Lakers — without Andrew Bynum — beat the Celtics fair and square. But officiating, like usual, seemed to be a problem. For both sides.
I’ll let Bob Ryan handle this:
“The game ended, fittingly, in mild controversy, with the Celtics thinking Ray Allen had been fouled by Derek Fisher on the final shot. This is, of course, something like the 39,453d NBA game to end with one team in an apoplectic state over a last-second officiating judgment. That’s the NBA, and it’s never going to change. Officials are human, and, at this exalted level, it is a very difficult game to adjudicate.
Even the best officials get it wrong. The question emanating from this game, however, was this: What were these three men doing working a game of this magnitude? On a February Thursday night when there are only three games on the schedule, someone in power thinks that Monty McCutchen, Jim Capers Jr., and Leon Wood should be working what was, in the minds of many, the biggest game of the 2008-09 regular season? Really? Were all the real officials on vacation? Not acceptable. No game of this scope should be placed in the hands of third-tier officials. There were going to be legitimately unhappy people, no matter who won this horribly mismanaged game that left both sides confused as to what was, and what wasn’t, a foul right from the opening tap.”
