LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Golden Knights fans were disappointed after the team fell in Game 7 against the San Jose Sharks Tuesday night and that includes local law enforcement.
- Refs Cheated The Rockets Game 7 World Series
- Refs Cheated The Rockets Game 7 Play
- Refs Cheated The Rockets Game 7 Last Night
The Sharks stormed back from three goals down to steal the game away from the Knights after a controversial penalty call in the third period in what turned into a 5-4 final.
Washington QB Alex Smith is being accused of deliberately cheating to give his team more time to kick a field goal before the half. Right before halftime of the Washington-Steelers game, refs were forced to stop the clock after Smith ran off the ball which gave Washington time to set up a field goal with no timeouts. According to the report, the Rockets audited Game 7 of the 2018 Western Conference Finals and determined that 81 instances took away 18.6 points from Houston. The Rockets led 2–0 in the series before losing in 7 games, and then-Rockets head coach Jeff Van Gundy was fined $100,000 for stating that a referee was targeting Houston center Yao Ming. On July 29, 2008, Donaghy was sentenced to 15 months in prison, and three years of supervised release.
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Many fans believe that penalty cost Vegas the game as it included a five-minute power play for San Jose.
Troopers with the Nevada Highway Patrol also didn’t agree with the call and shared a warning to the refs on Wednesday.
'If refs are on vacation here in Nevada or Las Vegas they better wear their corrective lenses, if it is on their license because clearly, they weren't wearing them last night during the game,” NHP Trooper Jason Buratczuk said.
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Plus, 13 Action News viewers also sided against the refs call with 86 percent not agreeing with the penalty.
The Houston Rockets believed the officiating in Game 7 of the 2018 Western Conference Finals eventually cost them the Larry O’Brien trophy.
So much so, that the Rockets audited the May 2018 game on their own and drafted a report and accompanying memo for the NBA. The report claimed there were 81 total calls, non-calls and violations in that game.
But the Rockets never sent the memo, report ESPN’s Zach Lowe and Rachel Nichols, because they communicated the messages to league officials in various in-person meetings.
Says the memo addressed to Byron Spruell, president of league operations:
Referees likely changed the NBA champion. There can be no worse result for the NBA.
The full report obtained by ESPN concludes that those 81 instances cost Houston a total of 18.6 points in Game 7.
At home in Houston, the Rockets led last year’s Game 7 by 15 points at one point before going on to miss 27 consecutive three-pointers from midway through the second quarter, to midway through the fourth. As in Game 6, they fell apart in the second half of Game 7, with the Warriors outscoring Houston 122-63 in the second half of the final two games.
In Game 7, the Rockets attempted 22 free throws and the Warriors took 14. Golden State was called for 22 personal fouls.
Golden State eventually won Game 7, 101-92, advancing to the NBA Finals where they swept LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Rockets also argue in their memo that veteran officials “exhibit the most bias against our players.”
According to the memo:
The reason we are in this situation is the efforts made to improve the referees have been too slow, not extensive enough, and have been held back by entrenched referees who are resisting reform.
In the memo, which, again, was not sent, Houston recommended adding a fourth on-court referee. Houston also wants the NBA to make full-game officiating reports available to every team for every game.
The Rockets also claim a trip to the NBA Finals would have netted at least $20 million in additional revenue.
But, the NBA does not agree with anything the Rockets have to say. Mike Bass, an NBA spokesman, told ESPN on Monday:
As we told the Rockets, we do not agree with their methodology.
The leaked report and memo come on the heels of a report by The Athletic earlier Monday that reveals the Rockets began investigating how favorable the officiating has been to the Warriors over the years as soon as Game 7 ended.
The Rockets’ research determined that officiating cost them 93 points in the 2018 Western Conference Finals. The Warriors were at least +10 in six-of-seven games, the research found.
Refs Cheated The Rockets Game 7 World Series
Sources told Sam Amick “the Rockets have been making a data-driven case with the NBA for quite some time that these Super Team Warriors are getting a major officiating advantage in these heavy-hitter matchups.
The Rockets’ complaints about officiating come within the 24 hours since they dropped Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals on Sunday to the Warriors — a game marred with criticisms of the referees.
Golden State won, 104-100, in a game with not just a wild ending — but a series of missed calls that should have given the Rockets quite a bit more free throws.
“Call the game the way it’s supposed to be called, and we’ll live with the results,” James Harden told reporters after the game on Sunday.
Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni also revealed that officials told him they missed four separate calls on three-point attempts in the first half alone.
It is not yet public who the referees will be for Game 2.
Amick also reported Monday about Sunday’s game:
By the Rockets’ internal count from their video crew, there were eight attempted 3-pointers that should have been fouls in Game 1 – good for 24 free throw attempts that would’ve certainly decided the game.
The NBA Last Two Minute Report for Game 1 showed there were three incorrect calls in the final two minutes of the game, all of which went against the Houston Rockets.
Refs Cheated The Rockets Game 7 Play
But perhaps the biggest ding against the Rockets’ claim of referee bias is that the L2M concludes the non-call on Draymond Green’s defense on Harden’s potential game-tying three-pointer with roughly 10 seconds left in the game was correct.