The game ended, fittingly, in mild controversy, with the Celtics thinking Ray Allen had been fouled by Derek Fisher on the final shot. This is, of course, something like the 39,453d NBA game to end with one team in an apoplectic state over a last-second officiating judgment. That's the NBA, and it's never going to change. Officials are human, and, at this exalted level, it is a very difficult game to adjudicate.
Even the best officials get it wrong. The question emanating from this game, however, was this: What were these three men doing working a game of this magnitude? On a February Thursday night when there are only three games on the schedule, someone in power thinks that Monty McCutchen, Jim Capers Jr., and Leon Wood should be working what was, in the minds of many, the biggest game of the 2008-09 regular season? Really? Were all the real officials on vacation? Not acceptable. No game of this scope should be placed in the hands of third-tier officials. There were going to be legitimately unhappy people, no matter who won this horribly mismanaged game that left both sides confused as to what was, and what wasn't, a foul right from the opening tap.
You just can't have a great game without quality officiating, and this was far from a great game, as Phil Jackson readily conceded.
"Neither of our teams played up to the capabilities that we are able to play, but we outlasted them," he said. "But that's about it."
He didn't say it, but I will: The proper team won. Any road win is a good one in the NBA, and a win in the gym where the defending champion resides is even more notable.
The Lakers proved to be a resilient bunch, refusing to allow the Celtics or the crowd to deter them on a night when Kobe Bryant was very fallible. He had 61 against the Knicks Monday and 36 against the Raptors Wednesday, but last night, playing against a real defense, he labored for 26 ugly points, slogging his way through a 10-for-29 shooting evening.
