In the linked article, Rivers says that Allen was hand checked all the way after he caught the ball during the final play of the game. Elsewhere, Rivers said that he felt Allen was NOT fouled when he fell down on the last shot of the game, but that he was hand checked once he caught the ball and tried to move into position to take a shot.
I wish the Lakers fans would stop calling us "whiners" because we do have a right to complain about the ref's. They should keep in mind the fact that they also complained about the ref's after game 2 of the NBA finals last year so maybe they are also "whiners"?
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NBA Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Stu Jackson explains the hand check rule,
Click here to read Stu's explanation (scroll down till you reach the heading, "Can you explain what went into the hand-check rule and break that down how it’s been successful thus far?")
It does not matter how anyone feels about the hand check rule. What matters is that it is currently an established NBA rule, but it was hardly called throughout last night's game against the Lakers, especially during the final play.
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This setback sickens flu-ridden Garnett
The last "foul" committed by Garnett is even more questionable,
Garnett, however, picked up three fouls in the third to give him four with 2:14 remaining in the quarter and Boston up, 74-71. With the Celtics ahead, 83-81, with 9:49 left in the fourth, Rivers put Garnett back in the game. But with 4:22 remaining, Pau Gasol appeared to slap Garnett's wrist, causing him to lose the ball. While trying to regain possession against Derek Fisher, Garnett was hit with his sixth personal and exited with Boston up, 95-93.
What the article failed to point out is the fact that Garnett was also taunted by Odom in front of the ref's after he fouled out. Odom slapped him on his back and made a comment which caused Garnett to quicly spin around and snap back at him, but a taunting foul was never called on Odom (see NBA rule on taunting).
Still, you never want to place yourself in a situation where the game is placed in the hands of the ref's, especially during the final minutes when the game is on the line. You must fight hard and play smart fundamental basketball so that the flow of the game stays in your favor.
The C's need to address their problem with turnovers which took them out of their normal rythym last night. As of January, they demonstrated this season that despite their reputation of being a good defensive team, they have struggled against the top offensive teams in the NBA partly due to turnovers. They led the NBA in turnovers in early January, averaging 15.9 turnovers per game. Click here to see the current list of "Team Game Infractions Stats" for the 2008-2009 season. The C's are currently listed 4th in turnovers, the Lakers 20th, Cavs 26, Magic 18, Spurs 29 and the Nuggets are listed just after the C's at #5. This is something that will prove costly in the playoffs.
Also, Rondo played sloppy at the end of the game, often trying to take awkward shots going to the basket rather than moving the ball around (the lack of ball movement hurt them. Instead, they relied too much on high percentage shots). Pierce also played poorly because he, once again, failed to go to the basket often (a mistake he made in the first game against the Lakers on Christmas Day). The C's hardly played the fundamental defense that helped them to earn two double-digit winning streaks this season. Overall, it was a bad night for the C's, from bad ref's to sloppy play. They need to re-focus themselves when it comes to big games and not play a different type of basketball from the one that made them champs last year.
