Fan gets tossed for razzing refs, misses Raptors’ biggest win ever
Through the first three games of the 2016 Eastern Conference finals, Toronto Raptors fans had been pretty unhappy with the officiating in the series. And while the tide of the series has certainly turned over the past 96 minutes of basketball, that wasn’t enough to placate all Raps fans when it comes to the razzing of the refs, as evidenced by the game-stopping removal of one gentleman whom the officials didn’t appear to find too gentlemanly during the fourth quarter of Monday’s Game 4:
[Follow Dunks Don’t Lie on Tumblr: The best slams from all of basketball]
Dang, man. As punishments go, being forced to leave the gym and miss the closing 6:40 of the biggest win in Raptors franchise history is a pretty harsh one. Hope the pleasantries you lobbed at Monty McCutchen and company were worth it, my dude!
While I think there was more to the Raptors’ early-series struggles than a disparity in foul calls, the Cleveland Cavaliers certainly did spent more time than Toronto at the line. Cleveland had attempted 35 more free throws than the Raps in Games 1, 2 and 3, and hadn’t been whistled for a single shooting foul in the fourth quarter of a physical Game 3, leaving Toronto supporters livid … and, after a postgame bloodletting, the wallet of Raptors head coach Dwane Casey $25,000 lighter:
“[Bismack Biyombo] is not getting the calls,” Casey said. “We shoot zero free throws in the fourth quarter. Zero. He’s getting hit. There’s one play where they almost have a brawl. He gets killed on that play. […]
“He’s one of the top rebounders in the league, and no telling how many times he gets hit and fouled under there without being called. Again, I’m going to say this: I think he gets hit almost on every rebound and putback there is, and he just doesn’t get the calls, whether he’s rolling to the bucket, and we’ve just got to have consistency with that.” […]
“I’ve been on both sides of it,” said Casey, whose most recent fine for public criticism of officials came three years ago. “I’ve been where the whistle has been in favor of you. But for whatever reason — and I understand we have great officials and it’s a hard game to call — but some of these fouls are unbelievable.”
Early in Monday’s Game 4, it seemed Casey’s $25,000 might not have been money well spent. Once again, the Cavaliers went a full 12 minutes without being whistled for a shooting foul, as Cleveland’s first infraction came after Matthew Dellavedova bumped a driving Terrence Ross with just under four minutes left in the second quarter, eliciting a very solid Bronx cheer from the Air Canada Centre faithful:
Even so, the Raptors didn’t get the benefit of every first-half whistle. Game 3 hero and shot-blocking revelation Biyombo got the short end of the stick on what looked like an absolute stunner of a two-handed rejection of a LeBron James alley-oop late in the second quarter:
… which is the kind of thing that could lead a fan-base to remain outraged even with a double-digit lead. (Even if the Raptors themselves acknowledged after the game that Biyombo got LeBron with enough body contact to warrant the whistle.)
Then again, the tide did seem to turn the Raptors way in the late stages of Game 4. Fueled by frequent and ferocious drives to the rim, Toronto shot 19 free throws in the second half, compared to just two for the perimeter-happy Cavs. Plus, the refs were even cool with the Raptors throwing another defender on the floor — Casey himself — for some key late-game possessions. Heck, they even helped defend Cleveland themselves at one point; just ask Kevin Love:
(We kid, we kid.)
Mike D’Antoni has long been fond of saying that on offense, the ball finds energy; in playoff games, it often seems like the benefit of the whistle goes to activity, and with the game on the line in the fourth quarter, the Raptors were the more active, aggressive, effective team. It earned them a win that changed the Eastern Conference finals and proved Toronto belongs on this grand a stage … even if not all of their fans were able to stick around to see them finish the command performance.
More NBA coverage:
– – – – – – –
Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
Stay connected with Ball Don’t Lie on Twitter @YahooBDL, “Like” BDL on Facebook and follow Dunks Don’t Lie on Tumblr for year-round NBA talk, jokes and more.
