Lakers-Celtics: How Many Fouls Does It Take to Ruin a Great Game?

Sunday night was supposed to be the answer to the question of whether or not Paul Pierce's knee would hold up, as his team faced off against the Kobe Bryant-led Lakers in Game Two of the NBA Finals. Evidently it did, and Pierce finished the game with 28 points and eight assists, leading the Celtics in a hard-fought, 108-102 victory.

But, this game was not won by the players alone. It was completely controlled by the referees. Bryant went out of the game early with two questionable fouls and sat for the rest of the first half. This paved the way for the Celtics to begin their takeover.

With Bryant on the bench, Boston was able to go on a spurt and take a comfortable lead. Other Lakers who got into foul trouble were Lamar Odom and Derek Fisher, two of the focal points of the Lakers offense.

Watching the game, I witnessed Laker players being shoved, pushed, and slapped with no whistle blown. It was truly depressing to see such a one-sided game.

Also, I don't call this coincidence when Leon Powe, a routine bench player for the Celtics, gets more foul shots (13) than the entire Lakers team (10)!

I'm not saying that poor Lakers defense didn't put them into a hole they couldn't dig out of, I'm just saying a huge amount of bad calls frustrated the Lakers and put them into that situation.

When Kobe received his technical foul with 8:59 left in the third quarter, I was not surprised to see this side of the MVP. His team was completely dismantled by the lack of calls going its way, therefore destroying this highly anticipated game.

I was glad to see the Lakers pull off their near-upset when they cut the lead down to two, and hope to see a change in the way the games in the NBA Finals are reffed. Congratulations to the Celtics for their "hard-earned" win. And good luck to the teams in Game Three.