Getty LeBron James with Draymond Green.
Some media members and fans are claiming that inept refereeing is the reason the Golden State Warriors have to take the floor Friday, May 21, against the Memphis Grizzlies in a game for their playoff lives.
Brian Witt, of Warriors on NBCS, published an article following the Golden State’s narrow loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the NBA’s inaugural play-in tournament, which disparaged late-game officiating and blamed it for the game’s ultimate result.
“There was the laughably obvious blocking foul on LeBron James in the fourth quarter that initially was ruled a charge on Juan Toscano-Anderson. It was a textbook block, and it cost the Warriors their challenge to overturn,” Witt wrote.
There were several questionable-at-best calls that hurt the Warriors late in the loss to the Lakers 🤨
“The next time down the court, same thing. What should have been a blocking foul on Wesley Matthews was deemed a charge by Andrew Wiggins. Couldn’t challenge that one, though,” Witt asserted.
“A few minutes later, Jordan Poole nearly threw down what easily would have been the craziest dunk of his career. He wasn’t able to finish it off, though, mainly due to the fact that James crashed into him while trying to block the shot,” Witt continued. “This time, the officials didn’t make the wrong call. They just missed it altogether.”
NBA Two-Minute Report Vindicates Major Call Down the Stretch
GettyStephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors defends LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers during a game in January.
Witt continued on, asserting that several illegal screen calls against the Warriors were also bad whistles. Specifically noted was an illegal screen called on Golden State’s Draymond Green when the game was tied 98-98 late in the fourth quarter.
Warriors on NBCS cited the NBA’s Two-Minute Report in a tweet the following day that vindicated some of the website bemoaned after the defeat.
The NBA’s Last Two Minute Report says Draymond’s illegal screen was correctly called
t.co/lldLmzFuJJ
However, the editorial continued to disagree with the NBA’s assessment of the key call, not to mention several others.
“There simply is no way you blow your whistle on that, especially at that juncture of the game,” author Drew Shiller wrote.
Data Analysts Indicated Pre-Game That Refs Were Tough Draw For Warriors
GettyDraymond Green complains about a call in an NBA game against the Charlotte Hornets.
The sour grapes were preceded by a pre-game report from the website, which cited statistics on the game’s referees and those refs’ histories with Golden State.
The report did not offer promising chances for the Warriors to come out on top where the officials were concerned, especially on the road against a healthier Lakers team.
The striped crew for the Wednesday evening game numbered four. NBC’s pre-tip article referenced a 1-14 record for the Warriors over the team’s last 15 games when one or both of two of those refs officiated a Golden State contest — John Goble and Tre Maddox.
The report also noted a contribution from data analyst Owen Phillips, who tweeted information showing that both Goble and Maddox were among officials across the NBA who called the most personal fouls and most technical fouls on the Warriors.
I’ll take the Over on Personal Fouls AND Technicals tonight
The Warriors’ struggles under the officials in question, coincidence or otherwise, continued Friday night with the loss to the Lakers.
Golden State forward Draymond Green was called for a technical foul in the first half. Warriors guard Jordan Poole was also hit with the same violation as part of a double-technical between he and Lakers forward Anthony Davis.