Mike D’Antoni: “The Refs Admitted Mistakes at the Halftime, Damage – 12 Shots”

The Houston Rockets lost Game 1 of the series against the Golden State Warriors. The final result was 104-100 for the Warriors who opened this matchup in the best possible way.

But the guests from Texas were very angry at the end of the game, saying that the referees affected the overall score with several questionable calls which were in the home team’s favor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqimoU3EumM

Now, to be honest, there were several situations in which the refs did hurt the Rockets, especially in the third period and everyone agrees on that. Also, according to Mike D’Antoni, the officials admitted to him at the halftime, that they made a few bad decisions which were considering his side.

“So, I mean, the response was they came in halftime and said they missed them. That’s what they told me. They missed four of them. That’s 12 foul shots.”

But when talking about the last possession of the Rockets, the opinions are divided. Harden was trying to hit a three-pointer, Draymond Green contested the shot, and there was a contact. For some, it was an illegal one; for others, there was no foul.

Coach D’Antoni, Harden and Chris Paul talked about the referees at the press conference, and they weren’t looking happy at all.

The Beard was frustrated with the way everything ended. He openly called out the officials and criticized them, saying that he wants a “chance” to play under the same circumstances as the Warriors. If he has that, he wouldn’t have any other remarks on the final score.

“I mean, I just want a fair chance, man,” Harden said. “Call the game how it’s supposed to be called, and that’s it. And I’ll live with the results.”

"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

Harden often sticks out his leg while shooting three, and on many occasions, he gets a foul. But last night he didn’t. One other hand, Green did have contact with him, but the explanation after the game is that GSW player didn’t enter Harden’s path but was going sideways.

This situation resembles the one from the NCAA’ Final Four game between Virginia Tech and Auburn Tigers, when Kyle Guy got fouled in the last seconds, of the game.

Three points in this one would have tied the result, and things would be much different.

But what also happened after the shot was controversial, and according to many deserves more attention than Harden’s three-point attempt. Chris Paul rebounded, and had the ball, but while trying to get it outside he bumped into Klay Thompson, and the ball went towards Eric Gordon who was out of bounds.

Chris Paul was ejected after picking up his second technical foul late in game 1 pic.twitter.com/JQO0Np2QHV

— Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) April 28, 2019

There was no call on that but was on Paul who received a second tech and was ejected with 4.4 seconds to go.

This is odd. In the game like this one, a decision like this one is not common. His contact with Thompson was obvious, and there was more evidence for this to be a foul. But aside from that, a tech in moments like this one wasn’t necessary.

When asked after the game what happened, CP3 didn’t want to talk much about it.

“I ain’t seen it yet.”

This will only increase the tensions before the second game of the series and made it even more difficult for both the officials and the players to handle the situation on the floor.

We already had bad blood between these two teams during the last year’s Conference finals, when Rockets accused the referees that they gave a push to the Warriors on several occasions during their seven-game series. And there is no doubt that we will see more of similar things from both sides in the near future.

The next chapter in this drama is scheduled for this Tuesday.