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The NBA Needs To Wake Up And Fix Their Glaring Officiating Problem After A Ref's Inexcusable Mistake Nearly Cost The Grizzlies A Huge Win

Justin Ford. Getty Images.

The 32-15 2 seeded Rockets and the 32-16 3 seeded Grizzlies had one hell of a battle in their final showdown of the season. Even without Ja and Sengun being active for either side, it was about as good of a regular season game as you're going to find between two of the better teams in the entire NBA. After dropping the previous 3 games against the Rockets with the last 2 coming by 6 total points, this was a game the Grizzlies had to have. Not just for their record and standing in the West, but also their psyche. Considering this could be a potential playoff matchup in a few months, these H2H games always have a little more juice.

In a big game like this on national TV and everyone watching, that should be the story right? Two young contending teams out West going blow for blow until the final buzzer. For the 3pt volume weirdos, neither team took more than 32 3PA, there were 13 total lead changes and 14 total ties. The 4th quarter alone gave us 5 separate lead changes and 3 ties. It was awesome.

Of course, that's not the story. Unfortuntely, the biggest takeaway from this game comes from what happened in the closing seconds, where ONCE AGAIN we saw an NBA official make a colossal, inexcusable mistake that very well could have changed the outcome of the game

Hey Adam Silver....WAKE THE FUCK UP

I mean, what are we doing here? Now, whether you think Amen Thompson was going to make it back to contest that breakaway (which is legit since he's an athletic and defensive monster) is beside the point here. Taylor Jenkins does not come anywhere close to calling a timeout in this situation. Why would he? His team is on the break down a point with 20 seconds left. Only a moron would stop this play to allow the Rockets, who own one of the best defenses in the entire NBA to set their defense. 

The official blowing that play dead all because he thought there was a timeout is something that simply cannot happen at any point in a game let alone a situation like that. This is the EXACT problem that Adam Silver and the league office refuse to address. These officials are making mistakes that are not only indefensible, but they are also potentially impacting the results of games. 

It doesn't even matter to me that JJJ eventually hit a couple of FTs out of that "timeout" to make up for those 2 points. What if on that break the Grizzlies swung the ball for a transition 3PM? What if he went strong to the rim and got an AND1? What if they simply hold onto the ball for the last shot? Instead, the result of that mistake forced the Grizzlies to change their approach, which ultimately resulted in the Rockets having one last possession.

What's the league say if FVV made this 3PA and the Rockets win?

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Sure the Grizzlies still were able to pull it out and walk away with the win, but that's not even the point.

The point is absolutely nothing is going to happen to that official as a result of their mistake. They don't have to answer to it, there's no fine or suspension, it's as if it never happened and the NBA is perfectly fine with that.

All this talk about the NBA's product and all these rule changes that need to happen continues to miss the point. This is the real issue that needs to be addressed by the league office. This is the type of shit that is ruining the product on a nightly basis. That's the thing, this isn't an isolated incident. You can turn on any game on any given night and you'll see NBA refs be on their bullshit all while knowing they face zero repercussions for their actions/mistakes.

We probably get the highest fine of all time from Taylor Jenkins if the Grizzlies lost that game, and it'd be worth every single penny. The race in the West is so tight for every team not named OKC, we're at the point of the NBA season where these games matter. Just because it worked out OK in the end does not mean you ignore the issue. Doing that for years is how we got here in the first place! 

Does Adam Silver care? For sure not. Why care about your GLARING officiating problem that is ruining your product on a nightly basis when you can instead spend your time thinking about what NBA games look like with 10 minute quarters. That makes a whole lot of sense….said nobody ever.

It used to be you only had to worry about refs like Tony Brothers and Marc Davis. Maybe a little Scott Foster "Extender" behavior. But now? It's everyone, and unfortunately, it's only getting worse.