One of the reigning stories of these playoffs has been the officiating, it seems no team is quite happy with what's going on. With the ejections and suspensions in the Warriors vs. Grizzlies series making people angry as well as Chris Paul picking up 6 fouls against the Dallas Mavericks, there has been a lot of conversation surrounding the subject through the postseason.
One series that has avoided this conversation, for the most part, is the Milwaukee Bucks vs. Boston Celtics series even though it has been quite intense and physical as well. And Game 3 brought some contentious decisions as well, including on Marcus Smart's final shot attempt, where he was fouled and awarded two free throws.
The Celtics believed it should have been three free throws. And while the Bucks disagree, their general manager Jon Horst has called the officiating into question, although he did acknowledge that the referees have a tough job (via The Athletic).
“I mean this sincerely: I do respect that, at the end of the day, it is a hard job, right? I couldn’t do their job. You couldn’t do their job,” Bucks general manager Jon Horst said Sunday evening in an exclusive interview with The Athletic. “Officiating is hard, just like playing is hard and coaching is hard, and I think we all have a standard of trying to get better and improve. And at the end of the day, that’s what stood out to me. We have to improve. That wasn’t a quality playoff basketball game, and I think officiating played a role in that.”
“When you start looking at the numbers, it’s just, it’s pretty outrageous,” Horst said. “And I think our players and Boston’s players just deserve to have it be addressed and have it be looked at and to just have some improvement.”
“I understand how hard the job is and things happen, but you just want a fair game at the end of the day. I think the stats really speak for themselves.”
These are strong words from Horst, and considering how seriously the league usually takes these matters, it wouldn't be surprising if he got fined. However, the conversation in the playoffs shouldn't ever be about the officiating, and that's what has happened a lot this year, so the NBA has to work and figure out a way to improve their product.
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