How is Joey Crawford refereeing in the NBA playoffs, let alone in the NBA period?  I will go out on a limb, and say it is IMPOSSIBLE for Kobe, while being guarded by Bruce (Edward Scissorhands) Bowen to not shoot one free-throw an entire game!  Along with the blatant no call on the travel of Duncan toward the end of the first half, to the FOUL on THE FLOOR by Derek Fisher at the end of the game, I guess it all evens out?  He (and many other officials) but Crawford most au####iously, makes blatant non calls and seemingly make-up calls during the course of the game.  Laker Fan is obviously happy because of the blatant home cooking that was overcome tonight and which also seemed evident in the Utah Jazz series- at least  in one game (but not as bad as tonight) much like the hacking and hand checking by the Spurs. 

Oberto is terrible, Horry looks way worse than his last days in L.A, Ginobli is a every third or fourth game guy (I mean those 30+ pt games at least...), UM MEMO TO SKIP BAYLESS!!!!!! But with all that said, the Spurs can play at times, and sometimes play very well, but closely watched, they hand check and foul constantly and whine and complain consistently, when they don't get defensive fouls called in their favor, and this is made more annoying many times by the fact they should all be basically fouling out in half of the games...especially our boy Bowen!   

First point, Raja Bell does nothing but foul Kobe Bryant. He is a very poor man’s Bruce Bowen. Second, the Suns had an eight point lead in the fourth quarter and I don’t remember the refs playing any defense not getting rebounds or missing any shots for the Suns. My problem is the fact the Suns were tied at halftime 41 to 41.  It’s like when the Pistons (especially the previous two years) had an opponent let’s say like Miami last year at 40 points or less in the first half, then you could almost be positive that the game was going to be a Detroit victory. Conversely, if the half time score was in the 50’s or 60’s, you could almost bet Detroit would lose. This year is a little different of course for Detroit but the same reality goes in reverse for the Suns. 41 to 41 at halftime equals trouble. The Lakers actually played probably their worst game of the series. All Phoenix has to do to win this last game is to capitalize and hit really just one more shot. NOT even get to the point where Smush Parker even has a chance to demoralize the MVP. And yes, Nash is classy and didn’t blame the refs overtly for the loss, I’m sure he was thinking more about the three threes in a row that he bricked. Those were the crucial shots of the game. While on the flip side you have Devean George who actually makes the hugest plays of the game to keep the Lakers within striking distance by his 3 fourth quarter treys. I actually told the people I was watching the game with at the end of the third that someone off the bench had to do something. The last name I said was George. He had done basically nothing for 3 games so he was due. Give Tim Thomas a TON of credit as well and Diaw. Marion did get some ticky tack fouls and was playing great so I will say that was a huge factor. But Lamar put the onus on the refs and took it too Shawn, especially in the fourth, and lest we forget that Kobe was saddled with 3 fouls and played less than a minute in the second quarter. Raja is a likable player, but he is consistently doing his best Bruce Bowen impersonation of holding, grabbing and flopping but not quite as effectively. Also, has anyone noticed the fact that Kobe took only one three pointer in the game? He hasn’t shot what has become one of his trademark threes from 4 feet behind the line all series. There were a couple of times late, where he thought about it, stayed patient, and drove or passed and ran the offense. Unbelievable. At one point you are actually wanting him to take one of those threes! But Kobe stuck to the game plan and a miracle was born.

Yes Phoenix, the SUN will shine again and the SUNS should be back strong with Amare. So don’t worry about your undermanned MVP led team, that is getting beaten right now by an undermanned 3 time champion's team.