I Don't Believe What I Just Saw

After tonight's Celtics-Magic Eastern Conference finals game, I am ashamed and embarrassed for the NBA. If you who are reading this post are fans of professional basketball, I know that you agree.

It's hard to tell where to start with such an awful game, but I think the point that needs the most belaboring is certainly the officiating. By game's end, I would have liked nothing more than for someone to walk right up to Joe Crawford and strip him of his NBA officiating status.

This, remember, is the same man that threw San Antonio forward Tim Duncan out of a game and actually challenged him to a fight afterwards. Who does that?

Joe Crawford and the rest of the officiating staff in my opinion was the embodiment of what a referee shouldn't be like in game 5. I can't verbally express to you in words what exactly happened, because the highlights will be replayed, and I urge you to look for yourself, but I will try for a number of points.

In the first half, Celtics center Kendrick Perkins was whistled for a technical foul while trying to help teammate Paul Pierce up off the floor. His hand slipped out of Pierce's grip, and Perkins accidentally elbowed Magic center Dwight Howard in the chest. The refs weren't going to hesitate on this one. Perkinds was "T'd" up in no time.

The second time Perkins was called he was thrown out of the game (two technicals equals an automatic ejection). The game itself is physical, especially since it's the Eastern Conference Finals. Howard and Perkins are the biggest guys on the floor, so they obviously will be battling for position. Perkins tapped Howard's elbow, causing him to lose control of the ball. Perkins was called for the questionable foul, and almost lost his temper. But he restrained himself and began walking downcourt away from the refs, a good decision for any NBA player facing that situation. The refs proceeded to give him a technical anyway, which meant his ejection from the game.

Any basketball player in the NBA is supposed to be physically fit and strong, but the acting going on in this series by both teams is ridiculous. The refs were prompted to call the most needless fouls because Jameer Nelson or Paul Pierce fell when someone touched their arm. Flopping is everywhere, and no one's going to stop doing it, but I wish the referees in tonight's game didn't call a foul every time it happened.

I know that it's not the easiest thing to catch and call (or not call) a foul on, but it's the playoffs! Every team is more physical because they have a common goal: to win a championship. So when someone touches another player's elbow, or Rasheed Wallace or Perkins get physical with Howard or Brandon Bass down on the blocks, please just let them play! I'm not going to accuse the NBA or refs of trying to "make the series interesting" by aiding Orlando's cause, but the fouls that were called tonight really should have been left alone. Extremely poor referee-ing going on tonight.

One other thing in the game that served to piss me off incredibly (aside from the lack of shooting ability or defensive skill on the Celtics part) was when Glen Davis took a Dwight Howard elbow to the face after going up to block a shot. Howard, who we've learned from this series throws menacing "bows," brought his elbow swiftly down on Big Baby's nose, which knocked him almost unconscious. He remained on the floor for several seconds after the Magic had taken the ball upcourt, and attempted to get up after Celtics head coach Doc Rivers shouted at him to hurry off the floor. He staggered for a bit, then slipped and fell, clearly not all there from the impact of Howard's hit.

What really got to me was when Davis tried to get up but slipped and fell again, the Magic crowd loved it, and began cheering at his clear lack of functioning motor skills. I will call the Orlando fans out who were at that game: you are the definition of classless. You may point your fingers elsewhere, and say that I'm biased because I'm a Celtics fans, but it doesn't matter. For those who watched it on TV, we saw it.

There's also a lot of conspiracy talk circulating that the NBA is trying to send this series into as many games as possible to make more money. While that does make sense because this is a business, it's not an excuse for why the Celtics haven't shown up to the last two contests. I don't necessarily agree with any conspiracy theories, I just want the Celtics to play the basketball they are capable of playing, which looked a lot like the first three games in this series.

People say that this could be the basketball version of the Bruins Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Flyers, but that's not right either. The Magic have won two games, and have to return to Boston for game 6 on Friday, where you know Doc will have his players ready to go. No need for panic yet.

But after sitting and suffering through tonight's game, I'd say it's time for a few changes to the Celtics offensive/defensive woes, and a decently officiated game on Friday would be appreciated.

So here's hoping that Friday's game 6 matchup in Boston will bring the necessary changes that basketball fans need to see.