The Houston Rockets have a problem. While they’re down in their Western Conference Semifinal series to the Golden State Warriors following a 104-100 defeat on Sunday afternoon, Houston’s larger concern is with how the series is officiated. This was evident throughout the game, and after it ended, Rockets star James Harden called out the referees.
"I just want a fair chance, man. Just call the game the way it’s supposed to be called and we’ll live with the results.”
James Harden voiced his opinion about the officiating after Game 1. pic.twitter.com/9GmtB2EjPp
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 28, 2019
Now, it’s very easy to read and hear about the officiating after the game and say it’s sour grapes from a team that is down 1-0. But as we learned after the game, Houston’s frustrations weren’t a one-time thing. Sam Amick of The Athletic brought word that the Rockets, which are known for embracing numbers in ways no other NBA franchise does, presented a case to the NBA that the Warriors get a favorable whistle when the two sides meet up.
Following the conclusion of last year’s Western Conference Finals, which piqued the Rockets’ skepticism in how games against the champions were called, the team made it a point to get the full officiating reports from the league for every game in the series. The team dug into the reports, and the Rockets came out with the belief that something was awry.
Via The Athletic:
And after the Rockets went through every line, tallying all the missed calls for each team and adding up the potential points that were lost along the way, it wasn’t pretty: The Rockets, according to the sources, had a double-digit point deficit in six of the seven games (and a small edge in Game 2). In all, sources say, they were harmed to the tune of 93 points. Game 7 was the worst, the research showed, with the league-issued report indicating they should have had 18 more points. More specifically, two of the 27 consecutive missed 3-pointers that did them in were ruled to have been missed foul calls.
It’s not hard to read all of this, then see how they reacted to non-calls on Sunday, then hear what Harden said after the game, and come to the conclusion that the Rockets believe they are losing games for circumstances outside of their control. Bad or missed calls happen all the time, and you’ll sometimes see teams raise concerns publicly with the hopes of getting a slight edge going into their next game, but this feels different. Houston has looked forward to getting a shot at Golden State for a year — it’s been a motivating factor for the squad all season — and they believe they can take down the Warriors … if, of course, they don’t feel like they’re playing 8-on-5.
