Text/Water is clear
In today's two playoff games, the Nuggets 117-90 Timberwolves, the Pacers 111-106 Knicks, the two teams each won one city, respectively, chasing the big score to 1-2, what is eye-popping is that the referees provided great help in the process of winning the two teams, which makes people have to suspect that this is a new way to play in the league in the face of the absence of superstars such as James, Curry, Harden and Durant.
Superstars such as James were out early
The NBA is business, a well-known reality, and in the past two decades, James, Curry, Harden and Durant have been responsible for the league's traffic, directly determining ratings, broadcasts and ticket revenue, and this season, the Lakers, Warriors, Clippers and Suns have all missed the semifinals. Today's two games may be the answer.
The Knicks led 2-0 at home, and if they win today, the suspense of this series will basically be lost, so the referees began to wield:
Carlisle's challenge succeeded
In the past, the referee would do everything possible to maintain the original verdict, but this time, Brunson changed to the left and inward Smith had an obvious foul, and the referee did not retrospectively determine that Carlisle's challenge was successful, and dignity can be put aside in the face of the long-term interests of the league.
Offense interferes with the ball and does not blow
DiVincenzo and Harten made a mistake in Haliburton, Hart counterattacked with the ball and made a layup, the ball obviously hit the board first and was blocked by Turner's offensive interference ball, the referee chose to ignore it, a game, it is inevitable that there will be "missed judgment"!
Don't blow Siakam offensive fouls
Even then the Pacers counterattacked, when Nembhard broke through, Halten originally had a chance to make up for the defense, but he was firmly locked by Siakam and his arms couldn't move, and the offensive foul that happened under the nose of the referee on the bottom line didn't blow.
Brunson's three-pointer was fouled and ignored again
As for Brunson's late three-point draw was fouled by Nembhard and then ignored, the referee can also explain that the players decided the game at the last moment!
As a result, after 3 minutes of the decisive victory, the referee was protected by 4 home whistles, and Brunson's two chances to stand on the free throw line to score 5 points were ignored; Hart's two-point chance turned into a two-point chance for the Pacers, who narrowly won.
Compared with the Pacers, the referee's blowing in the subsequent battle between the Nuggets and the Timberwolves was very vague, only targeting McDaniels.
The Timberwolves won two consecutive cities at the Nuggets' home court, and McDaniels pressed Murray to only 9 of 32 shots, and the shooting rate of only 28.1% was the top priority, so even if he only scored 5 points in two games on the offensive end, his excellent defense made his plus/minus as high as +40, so in today's G3 game, the referee began to wield:
Porter Jr. broke through with the ball, Maidan had a waist hug action with his left hand, Coach Tony whistled directly and blew a foul, it stands to reason that in the playoffs, such defensive actions are numerous, but the referee blows a foul directly, which means that Maidan must be tightly arrested, and then the facts:
Maidan 2nd offense
6 minutes and 30 seconds in the first quarter, the Nuggets baseline ball, Porter Jr. pulled the onion on the dry ground and wanted to dunk directly, the referee blew the whistle again, note, Gobert and Maidan both protected the basket, and the referee directly blew for Maidan to foul, the second foul of the individual.
Maidan 3rd offense
Only two minutes into the second quarter, Porter Jr. defended and attacked the basket again, Maidan had already stopped, when Downs took off, the referee whistled again, and the penalty was still Maidan foul, the third foul of the game, and he had to get off the court after falling into foul trouble, and even if he came back after that, he didn't dare to give Murray defensive intensity, so:
Murray middle distance
Murray shot 20 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal and only 2 turnovers on 9-of-17 shooting in the first three quarters, playing his best performance in three games, and the Nuggets built a 27-point victory at 93-66, and it is not surprising that the Nuggets won by a big margin.
That said, is it necessary for the referee to blow it like that?
If you take a closer look, since James, Curry, Durant and Harden are out, the league's revenue will naturally decline, and the Knicks and Timberwolves are already leading 2-0. And the best way to reduce losses at the moment is to make the series as long as possible, and one more game will give you more ratings and ticket revenue, so there is an ending where the referee can decide the outcome today.
There is no way, this is the helplessness of the lack of Jankuhaddou, the league has to adopt a new way of playing, try to lengthen the series of each group of matchups, and today's blowing penalty, maybe the prologue, after all, the NBA is a business field!