Looks like MDA played Russ to buy time for Harden when what he should have done is rest him and put Austin Rivers in. Thats where he goes wrong.
Yep. And to end the third why on earth we weren't running the offense through you know... Gordon... our hottest player tonight. But I guess having Russ dribble and shoot a pull up contested 3 is exactly the offense D'Antoni loves. Anyone who doesn't say coaching was the forefront of why we lost tonight wasn't paying attention. I am one who is always harping on officials when the league is blatantly influencing a game's outcome. Tonight ain't that game. They didn't need to. D'Antoni was doing a good enough hatchet job himself.
I know calls could be momentum killers, but the biggest problem tonight was our inability to solve the 1-2-2 zone and the double-teams of Harden. The Lakers made brilliant adjustments and executed.
We had it rolling right up until 53.9 seconds left in the 3rd.... Officials make a call made where Rondo is called for a block with Russ heading to the line in the penalty....instead The call is NOT just reversed but Foster changed it to a loose ball foul meaning a potential 4 point swing from free throws AND Westbrook with his 5th right when he's coming in to give Harden a blow. The Lakers were smart and made sure to attack him the next 3 possessions and got layup after layup. We had a 3 point lead with a chance to shoot 2. Instead, the Lakers shoot 2 and close the gap to 1 and our star in foul trouble right when our other star needs a blow. Granted, there was a lot of time left. But basketball is SUCH a game of momentum. It stopped us COLD and gave the Lakers life at a key moment. That's why not all calls are the same. That's why looking at total fouls at the end is a bad way to judge officiating bias. That's why Scott Foster is so hated by Clutchfans.
just like w/ the 0.5sec shenanigans from 4 days ago, foster sat at the replay booth for extended extended overtime literally brainstorming about how to manufacture a "solution" lol
I still don't get how he justified it as a loose ball foul. LA didn't get possession of the ball, we were still on offense when the foul occurred. Couldn't be anything other than an offensive foul yet....
Other than Chris Paul and Scott Foster is there another referee/team tandem that has as blatant a breakdown as the Rockets and Foster. I mean 1-9 in the playoffs. At what point is it not coincidence? He figured out a way to turn a charge call into a defensive foul. While watching the ****ing replay. How far in advance are referees assigned playoff games? I bet Foster has been assigned to some fairly critical ones.
All of it could’ve been overcome if Westbrook didn’t go full Westbrook today. Never go full Westbrook.
Ye sir Vogel won the chess match. They jumped us early and MDA did not call the timeouts to ensure the right approach for that adjustment. That literally cost us the game. The Lakers are desperate they know that we have them. It's really our series to lose. They barely won. Russ needed to post up and play pick and roll not Iso on the perimeter like James unless he is on the break. We will loll the Lakers if we play more of that and keep moving the ball. Our starters are superior our bench was not good tonight
