It was a shame, really, that an afternoon of delightful basketball with two very good teams going at it with playoff intensity and energy had to end with such rancour and disgust.
But officiating has been an issue in the NBA since forever, and never more than this season. The calls vs. non-calls were once again game-changing.
Video evidence would suggest the Toronto Raptors’ DeMar DeRozan was fouled on a layup in the final 30 seconds of a two-point game and that missed call ultimately led to an ending full of ejections, anger and disappointment.
“He smacked the s—- out of me,” DeMar DeRozan said of Oklahoma City’s Corey Brewer.