I suppose another way of asking the same question is: should the refs be blowing the whistle that late in the game? In case you missed the close play or want to see it again, here it is, because it’s pretty clear there’s a lot of contact.
That looks a lot like a foul, and I’ll go on the side that says Brent Barry should have been put on the line. But it’s not something I’m going to waste much oxygen on. The Lakers were in charge the entire game, leading the whole way. If the Spurs wanted to win, they had 48 minutes to ensure the game wouldn’t be put in the referees’ hands for the final seconds, which they let happen. Now one conspiracy theory issue is something BP pointed out at Awful Announcing prior to the game: Joe Crawford was reffing it. The same Joe Crawford who kicked Duncan out of a game last year for laughing. No nonsense Joe Crawford, who was responsible for the non-call on Fisher. I wouldn’t blame him for the loss — far from it — but I do think this is a great side note.
