GAME 72 DIRKIE: Ka-Powell! (80%)

[Jommybone]

Well...I gotta go with Powell for the Dirkie.

Bullock was nice.

6 players in double figures is nice.

If I was Minnesota I'd be treating the refs to a fine steak dinner for the way they called this game.  I sort of suspect that the refs have been instructed to slow the Mavs down.  Paranoid?  I guess.  But if somebody is shooting at you...it's ok to be paranoid.

Maybe refs are slowing Dallas. To me it looked like the mirror image of that—like they’ve been instructed to give Minny most-favored-franchise treatment. 

Last year it was NY and ATL getting bring-the-fans-back officiating. Those teams used up their temporary good will, and they’re back in the lottery. (Or does finishing in the 10th spot put ATL just out of the lotto now?)

This year, Cleveland is getting that treatment. As was Washington early on, before they packed it in to focus on the tank. Since the Wiz passed the baton, it seems the Wolves have been the beneficiaries of the whistles pretty consistently. 

That’s my theory anyway. Adam Silver trying to be more subtle with the manipulation than his predecessor. Rather than just giving Michael Jordan treatment to the superstars and a few extra calls for the home crowd, he seems to be trying to diversify. Certainly his end game is the same though. Maximizing revenue. So don’t expect the Lakers to be bad for long. 

And somehow that seems to explain giving Russell free throws on a rip through move in the final minute of a close game. At least it does in my brain.