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Some will believe that the loss of Houston Rockets match 1 at Golden State on Sunday is due to the basketball gods taking revenge on NBA MVP James Harden for his sins against the beautiful basketball .
As you well know, Harden 's game rests on a panoply of weapons: a step back 3, one of the most terrifying shots in the NBA today, a unparalleled start and end of the match, a newly created flater, and – it's the part that has offended the basketball gods so much – an ability to commit fouls.
Harden has led the NBA in free throw attempts for five of the past seven years. In the two seasons when he did not lead the league, he finished second and third. This is usually a category dominated by the big, deadly men who fight in the trenches, but Harden did it mainly on the perimeter. And many people – maybe even some of the gods of basketball – think it's playing the wrong way. Sometimes, one has the impression that Harden does not even try to reach the edge or try a shot. It may just be that Harden uses his singing skills together with his unbreakable basketball skills to get a referee to foul him so he can get two or three free throws on the court. line.
For those who feel the same way about Harden, the Sunday Warriors' 104-100 victory was won by the basketball gods.
The instrument of the gods of basketball was the referees. At least four times during the first half – and at least two more times in the second half – the Warriors 'defenders encroached on Harden' s landing space or, in one case, Chris Paul, as they were coming down to earth after throwing a 3. Klay Thompson. All season, this has been an important point for the referees of the NBA. If a defender does not let a shooter make a clean landing, we are talking foul all season. And this is not for nothing: these games can often lead to injuries. (See: Zaza Pachulia vs. Kawhi Leonard, first game of the finals of the 2017 West Conference.)
And yet, Sunday, again and again (and again and again and again), referees have neglected to call these games as faults. When the officiating analyst Steve Javie, referee of the NBA for 25 years, was invited to follow the match, he had a pretty clear idea: "They should have been faults". According to the Rockets head coach, Mike D & # 39; Antoni, the referees approached him at halftime and acknowledged the missed calls. "They missed four of them – it's 12 shots on goal," said Antoni to the press. "We could have easily gone to the line 20 more times." Harden then said unhappy: "I just want a chance," he said. "Call the game as it is supposed to be called."
There are some warnings to put here. The first is that the game was badly performed on both sides. The fourth quarter seemed to be a big make-up: the fifth foul on Steph Curry with just over eight minutes of play, where he clearly had the ball in his foot … the phantom call of Andrew Iguodala a few seconds later, after the fans chanted (somehow without irony) while Harden was shooting his free throws, "Refs you suck!" And even a call to Kevon Looney earlier where he did not seem to have been in contact with Harden on a recessed shot.
The second caveat relates to Harden's irony that referees should call the game as he is supposed to call. Many purists of basketball would say that Harden does not play the game as it is supposed to be played. Much of his game is based on the fact that the referees see a defender come in contact with Harden, whether it is a real or imaginary contact, and that he commits a fault. Harden is a genius. He hacked the system. He finds problems and exploits them. But much of his basketball style is based on the fact that referees must continue to interpret mistakes in the same way he thinks they should. And so Sunday was a moment of death / death by fault for Harden. Referees missed a lot of calls: In this regard, there should be no hassle. But that's what happens when your game depends so much on referees. Overall, the referees of the NBA are excellent in what they do. But they are human. And they miss calls.
If you do not like the way Harden plays basketball, I understand. He flop. A lot. Just like Chris Paul. And many NBA players do the same. The same goes for many professional athletes in all sports, trying to do everything possible to get the best possible results. There are two ways to consider Houston's defeat in the first game: The first is that the referees screwed the Rockets. And that they did, they did not call a handful of appeals about defenders encroaching on the landing zones – calls that they've gone through. all year.
The other way of thinking is that a significant part of Harden's greatness – an important part of last season's most valuable player award – rests on the referees' belief that the match is the way to go. which he wishes. Sometimes, in fact, it is fouled when it hurts the arms. On other occasions, he is not fouled, but he is able to convince referees to the contrary.
Look at it like that, and James Harden on Sunday was the boy screaming at the wolf. Did the referees miss a bunch of calls against Harden in the first match, enough missed calls to influence the outcome of the match? Absolutely. A foul should be a foul, whether in the regular season or in playoffs, in the first minutes of the first quarter or in the final seconds of the match, in a game that involves the most prominent player of the moment where the player on the bench .
But if you call the wolf too often to referees, referees may not be there to save you when you need it the most.
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