About the Officiating

Normally I don't like to talk about the officiating in games. While I don't have any data to support this, it's my belief that, with few exceptions, the officials don't impact the game. In the end, the players have more to say about the outcome than anyone wearing a striped shirt.

That being said, we need to talk about the officiating in this series. It's been terrible.

In game two, Tony Brothers clearly missed a foul committed by Julian Champagne on an OG Aununoby three-point attempt. The original call was out of bounds and San Antonio ball. Mike Brown called a timeout to challenge the call. After reviewing the play, the call was reversed and Anunoby was awarded three foul shots, which he converted.

At the time the score was tied at 97 with 2:37 left in the fourth quarter. The Knicks won the game by a single point, 105-104. If Brown did not have a challenge available, the Knicks might very well have lost that game and would currently be trailing 2-1 in this best of seven series.

In game three, the Spurs had 10 more free throw attempts than the Knicks. In the second half alone, they were 20-24 from the free throw line compared to 6-8 for the Knicks. The primary reason for this discrepancy was that New York was in the penalty within the first four minutes of each quarter. Fouls that the refs were letting go in the first half, they started calling in the second. Players pretty much all agree that the thing they want most from the officials is consistency. If something isn't a foul in the first half, it shouldn't be a foul in the second. 

Speaking of the first half, the Knicks were rightly upset that Victor Wembanyama was not called for a foul when he threw Jalen Brunson to the court in the first quarter. The NBA reviewed the non-call the following day and determined that it did not rise to the level of a flagrant foul 1. What was so frustrating about the play is that it happened with the Knicks in possession. Landry Shamet, the ball handler, was literally standing five feet away from where the foul occurred. It is inconceivable that not one official saw what happened. Wemby was seen smirking almost immediately after the incident.

Mike Brown was also perturbed about the non-call. Borrowing a page out of Rick Carlisle's playbook, he used his postgame presser to let everyone know where he stood. It was an unusual move for Brown who typically focuses on how well his players execute on the court. Given the circumstances, one could hardly blame him. It was clear from the opening tip-off that the Spurs were trying to intimidate the Knicks. 

Look, I don't want to beat this like a dead horse, but these are the sorts of things that can leave a bad taste in fans mouths. It feeds a narrative that there are two kinds of rules in sports: one for the stars and one for everyone else. Don't believe me? Ask yourself this question: if Mitchell Robinson had thrown Stephon Castle to the court, what would've happened to him? I'll lay odds that he would've gotten a foul which would've reviewed for a flagrant 1.

In the end, the Knicks did not lose game three because of lousy officiating; they lost it because, as I wrote in my previous piece, they reverted back to old habits. They can control that. What they can't control are the actions of the three men whose job it is to make sure that the rules are evenly enforced. Physical play is one thing; but intimidation like what we saw is another. 

I've been watching the NHL since the 1970s. I've seen all kinds of shit masquerading as hockey. The NBA went through a similar period in the late '80s and early '90s. Fortunately, it cleaned it up. The last thing any fan of the sport wants to see is a return to the "anything goes" days. After this series is over, Adam Silver would do well to meet with his people and set down some guidelines on how fouls are enforced. Either the rules apply to everyone or they apply to no one.

Some stars might squawk about it, but in the end, the integrity of the game is the only thing that matters.