Regardless of whatever sport you watch, it's never a good thing when the officials factor prominently in the storyline of a game. That would seem to be the case following the Houston Rockets' 104-100 loss on Sunday afternoon to the Golden State Warriors in Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals. It's at this point that the obvious should be pointed out, which is that officials making headlines is doubly bad when it's in the postseason.
Badmouthing of the refs appears to be a trend thus far in the 2019 NBA Playoffs, but on Sunday the Rockets seemed to be mad, specifically, about Golden State defenders undercutting shooters before they landed. Whether or not you agree, that's another story, but here's some examples of the source of their ire:
After all the totals of Sunday's Game 1 were tallied up, Houston and Golden State combined for 45 personal fouls, in addition to four technical fouls. Chris Paul was also ejected with about four seconds left. After the game, Rockets star James Harden made it clear that he thought the refs f'ed the Rockets:
"I just want a fair chance," Harden said. "We all know what happened a couple years back with Kawhi. Call the game the way it's supposed to be called and we'll live with the results." In case you forgot, that's a reference to Kawhi Leonard leaving/missing the duration of the 2017 Western Conference Finals with an ankle injury after he was undercut by the Warriors' Zaza Pachulia. Houston did go to the line 29 times on Sunday (with Harden going 13-for-14).
After the game Houston coach Mike D'Antoni said that the officials copped to their mistakes at halftime, not that there's much that can be done about it now:
Dallas Owner Mark Cuban, as well as Houston GM Daryl Morey, also chimed in on the eventful contest:
Also, after being informed of Harden's comments after the game, Golden State's Draymond Green was armed with a joke, saying "I've been fouled by James on a James 3-pointer before."
