Ref's Clearly Blew It for Dallas!

Well well well, the playoffs have been somethin' else so far haven't they? My Cav's are coastin, and the energy and excitement all across the board has been incredible! Out of all the nonsense that has gone on (flagrant fouls, near fights, suspensions) the one thing that has gotten under my skin the most has to be the huge screwup by the refs in game 3 between the Mavericks and Nuggets. As a Cav's fan, I really do not care who wins this series; I just enjoy watching both teams play. But this type mistake is just too costly, and honestly, costed the Mavericks a win that could have manuevered them back in position with a chance to win this series.

Referees have a job too, and in that job they have to be on point at all times. In a situation like that, there should be an understanding amongst all of the refs that Dallas had a foul to give and that they would DEFINITELY take that foul when the opportunity presented itself. I don't know what world the refs were lost in, but Carmelo Anthony was clearly fouled...he was suppose to be clearly fouled...if the guy had just taken his pointy finger and gently poked Carmelo like he was the Pillsbury Doughboy a foul CLEARLY should have been called. That strategy and understanding is quite clear in that type of scenario and the refs blew it, shattering the energy Dallas had built after an impressive outing. I've heard people argue that Wright should have continued fouling Carmelo...HORRIBLE ARGUEMENT. There's a new trend in the NBA of knowing when the opposing team is going to foul you, and timing it perfectly so that you're shooting in the act of the foul (Chauncy Billups is famous for it). That was Carmelo's intent, and thats exactly why he jacked up a three pointer in that situation. He was hoping to go to the line for 3 off of the intentional foul. So, in my opinion, Antione Wright did the "right" thing by backing off after the intentional foul (which was clearly an intentional foul).

Point blank the refs blew it, and thats a hard pill to swallow if you're Dallas. THIS IS THE PLAYOFFS, where you go hard or go home. Dallas went hard, and unfortanetly may be going home a little sooner than what they deserve. Sure, they acted out of character after the game ended, but can you blame them? I probably would have lost it in that situation as well. Now you have Marc Cuban pushing camera men, arguing with Kenyon Martin's mom, and upcoming game that'll be more heated than the season finale of House M.D! All of which could have been avoided. I'm not sure how the NBA handles things like this, but there should be some action taken when a mistake of this magnitude is made. It won't bring the Maverick's opportunity for a win back, even though (in all actuality) they truly deserve one. Barely takes a genius to know that!