James Harden and the Houston Rockets blew a 26-point lead in Boston on Thursday night. It’s a hard feat to accomplish, but Harden thinks the Celtics got a bit of help in their comeback attempt.
The Rockets star was highly critical of officiating after the loss, including two offensive foul calls against him in the final moments of the game to seal the comeback win for Boston.
Harden spoke after the game and questioned why just two officials were allowed to ref the game given its prominent spot on the NBA calendar. He was clearly not happy with the fouls called against him, either.
“First of all, I wonder how you only have two officials on a national TV game,” Harden said according to the Houston Chronicle. “A lot of grabbing, a lot of holding. How else am I supposed to get open? The guy has two arms wrapped around my whole body.”
Marcus Smart described the offensive foul called on Harden as a “little nudge,” but Harden wasn’t happy with how officials called the game’s closing moments.
“It’s tough. You can’t have two officials in a professional game. There were a lot of no-calls that needed to be called because that changes the dynamic of the game. Then you get fast-break points, no-calls turnovers. It’s a professional game, national TV. It can’t happen.”
Harden is the latest NBA star to be directly critical of officiating in the NBA. It’s not just ejections for arguing, either, as the lack of calls in important moments has been a big topic in recent days. The meeting between players and officials on All-Star weekend will hopefully improve things, but it’s not a guarantee we see a viable solution to the problems here. Players like Harden, LeBron James, and Draymond Green think officials are missing calls or calling the game a certain way for certain players. It’s a tough spot for officials to be in, and it might not get better anytime soon.
