One of the biggest plays of the game took place with about 2:30 seconds left in the game with the Dallas Mavericks leading the Miami Heat by three points. After a pick and roll for Dwyane Wade, a tremendous cut by LeBron James, and a collision in the restricted area between LeBron James and Tyson Chandler, Joey Crawford made what seemed to be the incorrect call. However, upon closer examination (and referring to a little known/used rule) we can see that Crawford made the correct call given the situation:
The play starts with Chris Bosh coming up and setting a screen for Dwyane Wade, with Wade actually using the screen. Off the ball, LeBron James sits in the corner, being covered by Jason Kidd.
Last night during the Suns-Lakers game, we saw a play were Marcin Gortat tried to take a charge on a Matt Barnes drive in the fourth quarter, but had a foot planted in the restricted area:
Despite what many people were expecting, the foul was still called a charge. Matt Barnes was clearly upset, but this is the was the correct call. Why? Because of a little known rule involving the Lower Defensive Box (here is it explained by NBA.com):
The restricted area (RA) is the area within the arched line on the court located below the rim. Its purpose is to stop secondary defenders from taking a position under the basket in an attempt to draw the offensive foul when a player is driving to the basket. If an offensive player drives past his primary defender on the way to the basket and a secondary defender comes over, he must establish a legal position outside the RA to draw an offensive foul. If the drive starts inside the Lower Defensive Box (LDB – this is the area from the bottom tip of the free throw circle to the endline between the two 3’ posted-up marks), the secondary defender is legally allowed to be positioned inside the LDB.
I like to criticize the referees as much as the next person, but for some reason I can’t help but think that everyone is blowing this officiating situation during these finals out of proportion. Maybe it is because you have two fan bases who are known to complain about pretty much everything or maybe it is because of the announce team (I like Jeff Van Gundy and can live with Mark Jackson, but do they really have to go on and on about how bad every single call – even when they aren’t that bad – is during the replays?), but I just get a vibe that everyone is looking for a reason to hate on the officials.
A very good example of this came midway through the 3rd quarter. After a Derek Fisher jumper, the Celtics came down and the refs made a very quick three second call. Everyone was outraged. The fans, people on Twitter, and the ESPN announce team. All of them pointed towards the shot clock and how only 4 seconds ran off of it. Taking a closer look though, you see this was the correct call:
Kendrick Perkins gathers the ball after Derek Fisher hits a jumper. On a made basket, the game clock continues to run as the shot-clock holds still until a player gathers possession.
