Heat win 100-67. I really am not the type of guy who runs to criticize officiating, but its games like todays that really make me struggle with playoff basketball. Officiating simply takes over games on far too many occasions. It’s not like this is the first time this has ever happened, it also won’t be the last. Miami would have won this game without the help of the refs. Their defense was stifling and the Knicks offense had no rhythm and looked confused and chaotic. Carmelo wasn’t able to get anything going and Stoudemire’s aggressiveness was taken away with all of the offensive foul calls in the first two quarters. As terrible as the team looked, the worst part of the evening was the non-contact injury suffered by Iman Shumpert in the third quarter. Without his defense the Knicks slim chances of advancing in this series just got much bleaker.
Dan Crawford, Ed Malloy and Gary Zielinski should be ashamed at the way their officiating affected todays game. They let LeBron run rough shod and gave the Heat a licensee to dive and flop. It seemed as though they were encouraging it. I’m not making excuses for the loss, I want to make that very clear. The officiating wouldn’t have made it possible for the Knicks to win this game but it was horrendous and could be a factor in other games in this series if they continue to call a foul every time LeBron decides to get his Orson Welles on.
Still awaiting word on Shumpert. Heres hoping for a brighter tomorrow.
