NBA Smoke and Fire

As we all know by now, the Los Angeles Lakers will be taking on the San Antonio Spurs in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals tonight. The Lake Show will have a chance to clinch the Conference Championship with a victory tonight, but it won't come without controversy...

Well, The Lakers and Spurs were on their way to having an epic Game 4 ending, with the Lakers almost blowing a 7 point lead with :47 seconds left to play.

As the old saying goes, whenever there is smoke (Crawford) there is fire (no call)

All everybody wants to talk about is how Brent Barry was "fouled" by Derek Fisher. How he should have had two free throws at the end of regulation to try and force OT, but nah-uh! Joey Crawford didn't see it that way.

You see, The NBA league office decided to have Joey Crawford officiate the game, knowing that he has had a colorful history with the Spurs. After all, he's the guy who actually kicked Tim Duncan out of the game for laughing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOqnqRgiYaw

If the association didn't want any controversy, with the conspiracy already running wild over a possible Celtics-Lakers Finals matchup, they should not have had Joey Crawford officiate this game. I can understand that the NBA was trying to put the kebosh on last year's situation, seeing as how Crawford is one of the most respected referees in the game. However, he should not be allowed to call Spurs playoff games because of what happened last year.

As fate would have it, Crawford was the one to decide the game:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQKhBnv8Mt4

The smoke was in the post-game, with news trickling out of San Antonio that Joey Crawford was indeed calling the game, and the fire started as soon as the final buzzer sounded, giving the Lakers a 3-1 series advantage.

Was it a foul or wasn't it? The media and fans have their own opinions, but the opinions of the people who actually matter all were in agreement that there was no real foul. Even Brent Barry and Pop weren't complaining. If there was a foul, Crawford decided not to call it because of the critical juncture in the game.

There has been talk that if Barry sold the foul like his famous flopping teammate Ginobili, he would've go that call. Also, there has been more talk about how Barry isn't an elite player in the league, so only the Kobes and the Wades would get that call.

There might be a little bit of truth in those arguments, but there is no way to reverse time and replay the last seconds of the game. What's done is done, and the Spurs need to focus on winning three straight games over the Lakers like the Suns did in 2006, or their championship reign is OVER.