This is officiating???
The NBA just made two series altering rulings: (1) the suspension of Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard for elbowing Samuel Dalembert of the Philadelphia 76ers in the head and (2) letting Rajon Rondo of the Boston Celtics walk after his blatant hard foul of the Chicago Bulls' Brad Miller. Here are the fouls, in YouTube fashion:
Did you see the fouls? Pretty rough play by the 21st century NBA standards. It was like watching WWE Smackdown.
In Howard's case, as TrueHoop said, he should have been automatically ejected in the game. This is clear in the NBA rulebook. Dwight Howard only got a technical and went on to play that game where he dominated the 76ers throughout. I can understand 76ers coach Tony DiLeo's frustration-- the rules are there but the NBA officials' response time was clearly unacceptable.
The case of Rajon Rondo is even more appalling: He fouled Brad Miller with no intention of going for the ball. Look at the replay. Rondo made a dirty play and hacked Miller from behind. Miller went on to miss the two free throws and cost the Bulls the game. I'm shocked that Celtics coach Doc Rivers "praised" Rajon Rondo for the unsportsman-like foul.
By the looks of it, the Celtics got an assist from the league WWE-style and the Magic will be playing at a Game 7. NBA: Where Amazing (Bad Calls) Happen.
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