The Rockets are claiming the refs missed 81 potential missed calls and non-calls in Game 7 of that series between Houston and the Golden State Warriors last year, according to the report and an accompanying memo.
“Referees likely changed the eventual NBA champion,” says the memo, addressed to Byron Spruell, the NBA’s president of league operations. “There can be no worse result for the NBA.”
The full report obtained by ESPN lists 81 total calls, non-calls and violations. It concludes that those 81 instances cost Houston a total of 18.6 points in that game.
In its own reports, the league does not attach point values to missed calls and non-calls.
“As we told the Rockets, we do not agree with their methodology,” Mike Bass, an NBA spokesman, told ESPN on Monday.
Reporting with @Rachel__Nichols: ESPN has obtained Houston’s audit of last season’s Game 7 against Golden State and the memo they intended to send the league with it: https://t.co/PnbDE4gniU
— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) April 29, 2019
The Rockets also argue in their memo that veteran officials “exhibit the most bias against our players.”
“The reason we are in this situation,” the memo says, “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.”
The Rockets recommended that referee assignments in the postseason should be determined “exclusively” by call accuracy without regard to experience level.
The Rockets are coming off looking even worse than they already do with this memo.
Stop your bit*ching and play basketball.
Here’s my audit: Rockets missed 27 straight threes.
— Callum Godde (@calgodde) April 29, 2019
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