The Phoenix Suns were cruising along with a 13-point lead against the Dallas Mavericks who had a banged-up star in Dirk Nowitzki and a 1-10 record against winning teams.
Sounds like a sure win right? Wrong.
Thanks to the referees and a mental collapse by the Phoenix Suns, the Mavs were able to rally back to win 105-98 on Saturday.
A 16-0 run led by Dallas was also Steve Nash and Co's undoing. Missed free throws and shots were also culprits of the Suns. However, many fouls could've been called in that game. I’ve taken the liberty to point out some controversial calls that changed the game.
6:09 remaining: Phoenix leads 91-90
The Big Cactus attempts to score to give the Suns a four-point lead. Shaq was slapped on the wrist by Erick Dampier, causing the ball to fly 15 feet in the air out-of-bounds. O'Neal had a firm grip on the ball and was going up with two hands, how it could he have lost the ball when it was clearly shown Dampier got a swipe in there causing the ball to soar? The refs called it a turnover—Mavs ball.
5:22 remaining: Phoenix leads 91-90
Steve Nash throws a beautiful pass on a pick-and-roll, looking to be another vintage Nash to Stoudemire handoff. Amare takes off and has the ball about in the rim when, who else but Erick Dampier, shows up and lays his body on Stoudemire just enough so the ball hits the back of the rim and cherubs in.
4:42 remaining: Dallas leads 92-91
Jason Kidd once again fouls Amare Stoudemire when he goes up for the jumpshot. A clear smack on Amare’s shooting hand was shown on the replays and sent fans into a frenzy.
1:42 remaining
Amare Stoudemire begins his move towards the basket and is starting to post up Devean George, when Jason Kidd and two other navy blue jerseys surround him and begin hacking away at Amare and the ball like there's no tomorrow. The end result, Phoenix loses the ball and the game.
Yes, Phoenix let this one slip away from them, but the refs played a part in this loss too. Dirk led all scorers with 32 points and put in 13 rebounds banged up and all, by the way.
20 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
Anonymous about 1 year ago
Referees do bad officiating all the time. Nobody has been at the receiving end more than the Mavs. Nowitzki never gets the consideration that other superstars like Kobe, Lebron ,Wade (remember 2006 Finals?) always get when they drive to the basket. So quit whining...Suns got owned in the fourth quarter.. End of story!!
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
If you are going to point out missed calls, there were plenty to point out both ways - as a matter of fact, there are plenty of missed calls in every game.
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Armin Husakovic about 1 year ago
you are a fucking idiot, i didnt even read your stupid ass article but you acutally wrote an article where Mavs benefited from the refs. What the fu(k is wrong with you, where have you been for the past few years
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
Wow! Complete waste of time! To think you actually took the time to document those petty bumps. Get a job.
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
why don't you go suck on nash's d***. GO MAVS.
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Ralph isaac about 1 year ago
I think Mike D'antoni wrote this article...But how would he write it with his hands always in his pockets?? maybe with his teeth?? .....A mystery indeed.....
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Miguel Vasquez about 1 year ago
This must be on the top 10 worst articles ever posted on bleacher report!!!
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Sean Stancill about 1 year ago
Lets not forget no fans, and someone who only comments on something once a month. Write more articles then come talk to me Member.
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Erick Blasco about 1 year ago
Who cares how many articles he's written, respond to the comments, not to the person. There is nothing worse than using "ad hominem" attacks to justify arguments.
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Barry Lindsey about 1 year ago
It is true that technically speaking using "ad hominem" arguments is not appropriate. However, it seems equally suspicious that you need to state your point with the qualification that there is nothing worse than ad hominem.
Also, why are grandstanding when what Sean is responding to is not a good argument?
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Sean Stancill about 1 year ago
You know I would actually take you seriously if I hadn't seen you only wrote 1 article.
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
What do you mean no calls for Kobe??? I thought you were just dumb until you got to that point, then i realized you were blind and dumb. have you seen a lakers game the last month? I can count at least a half dozen glaring instances per game where there should have been a call for Kobe and he didn't get it. I've seen the same thing happen for several different teams. Go write an emo blog you dolt.
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
with all the bad calls throughout the league, almost every game is won/lost by just a few calls. you just have to deal with it, and not write articles throwing a pitty party for the losing team. by the way, I saw some of the game and it is quite annoying when Amare just gets the ball everytime and jumps for the basket regardless of who is in the way, and mavs get called. so, take that into consideration.. there was probably an even # of bad calls on both ways, which means, mavs won fair and square.
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Ralph isaac about 1 year ago
but you can't blame the loss on the refs. Its suns'fault for being so bad defensively. actually the Suns are easier to defend now. If you can deny them the pick and roll, force either shaq or Amare to defend then you can win the game. Not to mention putting a big body on Shaq. If you do that, then the game is yours. Which is what Dallas did in the fourth, not to mention PHx helped them by missing shots.
when you have three sieves on D like Nash, Amare and Shaq, it doesn't take much for a talented offensive team like the Mavs to beat you.
is it a coincidence that the Suns have trouble dealing with teams that have talented players at the Center, Power Foward and Point Guard spot?
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Paul Peszko about 1 year ago
Sorry, but I didn't even get to the 6:09 mark. I turned it off when Phoenix' Incredible Hulk or the Great Shaqtus or whatever he calls himself fouled Jason Terry, and the refs called a charge instead of a block on the Shaqtus. I figured the refs were going to give the game to the Suns if they couldn't win it outright. So, you see, it's all from you p.o.v. The calls go both ways, so don't complain.
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
That is a pretty amazing article. I seem to also recall at least two snack arms to the heads of mavs players that
1. was called a normal foul
2. other was not called.
3. not to mention the foul that snack had on dirk that even van gundy and one of the the announcers announced as mised.
4. the fould called on josh howard when at best it was a no-call and imo looked like amare lowered his shoulder into him.
You really should take off those cactus-colored glasses.
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Ryan Staab about 1 year ago
The Suns have suffered through some horrible refereeing the past few seasons, and nine times out of ten you'll hear Suns fans blame the refs for a loss.
Sunday was an exception. They lost this one on their own.
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Sean Stancill about 1 year ago
I clearly said that the Suns lost that one too, and they let it slip away. Its not just about the refs although they did play a part.
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Scott Bickerman about 1 year ago
seems like everytime a team loses like that, its not because the team played bad, its the refs. what a horrible excuse.
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John Flinchbaugh about 1 year ago
Nice excuse, yea. If you're making this an excuse, then you're making every Maverick fans complaint about Wade in the NBA Finals a very valid complaint. Unless you support that, you make no sense.
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