Posted:
#1
I really hope this thread, once and for all, shuts up anybody who comes in here talking about the purity of athletics in general, and the NBA specifically. Let me also say, if, by the end of this example, you agree that the following game was fixed or manipulated by the officials to insure a certain outcome, then you should also be willing to accept the fact that the very players who experience this kind of blatant fixing/cheating (where the officials of the league act with impunity) are not above doing it themselves. BTW, the example I am going to give is not the famous game 6 between the Kings and Lakers. Everybody knows about that game and has their own opinion. No, the example I am going to give is from a regular season game with playoff implications.
It was the 79th game of 2012-2013 season for the Lakers who were battling to get into the playoffs.Kobe was nearing the end of his career and this would likely be the last chance for fans to see him in the playoffs. The Lakers had acquired D Howard, so if they could just make the playoffs, the league and the networks would get a lot of viewers. All that stood in the Lakers way that night was an upstart Warriors team coached by Mark Jackson. The Warriors were going to make the playoffs that year so they were mostly playing for seeding. Anyway, to cut to the chase. The Warriors were in complete control of that game. the Lakers looked old and out of sorts. At the time I recall thinking, "The Lakers are done. The Warriors have come to play and win tonight and nothing is going to stop them." It was at that point when the whistles started coming...and coming...and coming. If you can find the local Warrior broadcast of that game, please do so. Not only will you hear incredulous announcers saying they had never seen such blatant favoritism for one team, but you will see the exasperated expressions of Warrior players and coaches as phantom call after call goes against them.
It was the 79th game of 2012-2013 season for the Lakers who were battling to get into the playoffs.Kobe was nearing the end of his career and this would likely be the last chance for fans to see him in the playoffs. The Lakers had acquired D Howard, so if they could just make the playoffs, the league and the networks would get a lot of viewers. All that stood in the Lakers way that night was an upstart Warriors team coached by Mark Jackson. The Warriors were going to make the playoffs that year so they were mostly playing for seeding. Anyway, to cut to the chase. The Warriors were in complete control of that game. the Lakers looked old and out of sorts. At the time I recall thinking, "The Lakers are done. The Warriors have come to play and win tonight and nothing is going to stop them." It was at that point when the whistles started coming...and coming...and coming. If you can find the local Warrior broadcast of that game, please do so. Not only will you hear incredulous announcers saying they had never seen such blatant favoritism for one team, but you will see the exasperated expressions of Warrior players and coaches as phantom call after call goes against them.
Now for the stats to support my claim:
Warriors had 97 FG attempts making 46 compared to the Lakers 66 who made only 36
Warriors were 13-16 from while the Lakers were 38-50
Warriors were 11-26 from 3 point land Lakers 12-25
Warriors had 44 rebounds compared to the Lakers 36
Warriors had 15 offensive rebounds to the Lakers 3
Warriors had 8 turnovers to the Lakers 12
Warriors had 7 steals to the Lakers 2
Curry led the Warriors with 47 points (9-15 from 3)
Lakers were led by Kobe with 34
The Warriors were leading for most of the 4th, exchanging baskets for free throws (for the Lakers). Finally, around the 3 minute mark, the Lakers catch up, then in the most bizarre ending you will ever see (with the Warriors up 116-115 with 45 seconds to play), the refs call a foul on the Warriors who fouled Dwight Howard! But instead of Howard shooting the free throws, they somehow allow Steve Blake to shoot them! Blake makes both free throws and the Lakers never trailed again (as they went up 117-116). Go watch the game if you don't believe me. The announcers were incredulous. The foul was clearly against Howard, but Blake shot the free throws!
Lakers eventually won the game 118-116 (thanks to the refs), and in the irony of ironies, Kobe got hurt near the end of the game and missed the playoffs.
So please, stop it with this stupid, infantile idea that officials, players and coaches (ever heard of Pete Rose) are above fixing games. Of course this does not mean every game is somehow manipulated, but some certainly are!
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