I was determined to be bad, but I went straight to the Basketball Hall of Fame

Chapter 190 The Last Game Day (Second Update)
April 4, the last game day of the NBA regular season.

The competition for places in the Western Conference playoffs continued to the last minute.

There are actually 4 teams that may have the same record on the last game day.

They are the Clippers, Trail Blazers, Spurs and Thunder.

One of the teams will be eliminated and miss this year's playoffs.

The Portland Trail Blazers have already won the game earlier, achieving 50 wins and 32 losses.

Because of the relationship between victory and defeat, the Blazers took the lead in getting the chance to advance.

The remaining three teams are the Thunder, Spurs, and Clippers.

The Spurs are currently 50 wins and 31 losses. If they win the last game, they will rank sixth in the West.

If they lose in the last game, they will guarantee seventh place because of the outcome.

Therefore, the Spurs are equivalent to entering the playoffs early, just to see how they want to enter.

The sixth hit the Suns, and the seventh hit the Mavericks. On the whole, the Spurs seem to want to play the Mavericks more.

In the Spurs' last game earlier on April 4, their opponent was the Mavericks.

Popovich announced before the game that he would rest Duncan and Ginobili, indicating that he did not want to win the game.

Falling to the seventh dozen Mavericks is the Spurs' idea.

And the last spot will be born between the Thunder and the Clippers.

If the two teams lose one and win the other, the winner will enter the playoffs and the loser will be eliminated.

If the win and loss are the same, the relationship between the two teams is the same.

But the Clippers have a higher winning percentage against Western teams.

Therefore, if the Clippers win the last game, they will definitely enter the playoffs.

And once the Clippers enter the playoffs, NBA history will usher in the Los Angeles Derby for the first time.

The start time of the game is set at 7:[-] pm, and the stadium will start to prepare in the morning.

In addition to venue facilities, lighting and dance, DJ cheerleading and other rehearsals.

Before the start of each game, the referee also holds a small meeting to discuss how to set the tone for the game.

The three referees tonight are Joe DeRosa, Rodney Moto and Leon Wood.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, in the hut where the referee rested, the three first had a conference call with referee supervisor Joe Bozia.

"The final game of the regular season, the last game, control your scale, blow the whistle more strictly, and avoid injury problems."

"All parties are very concerned about whether the Clippers can play the Los Angeles Derby with the Lakers. Everyone hopes that such a matchup can take shape. But we should control it, don't blow too much, and maintain a balance."

"Be careful with Smart-Min, I feel that he has not been normal in the past month, and he is very aggressive. He should really want the team to enter the playoffs. Don't let him catch him and mess with him. Very troublesome."

Bozia talked about the general idea and purpose of law enforcement in tonight's game, and the rest will be left to the referee to judge freely.

In fact, the first principle for NBA referees to whistle is not absolute fairness and justice, but the pursuit of a balance.

The difference between the two is that the pursuit of fairness and justice will only focus on the objective fact of whether the two sides have fouled.

If there is a foul, it is a foul, if there is no foul, there is no foul.

If there is ambiguity, use your professional knowledge and field skills as much as possible to restore the truth.

Let both parties get a fair punishment.

The pursuit of balance is different. What you care about is not only objective facts, but also many subjective emotions.

For example, the thoughts of the fans, the home fans fanatically support the home team, if the home team blows too many fouls, they should restrain themselves from whistle.

Next time the home team still fouls, if it is not too much, it will not be blown.

Fans also like to watch the stars play on the court, so try not to blow some minor fouls by the stars.

If someone fouls the ball early in the first quarter, the second foul should be as loose as possible.

Otherwise, the fans would be dissatisfied if the two fouls were replaced early.

There is also the idea of ​​the sponsor, the sponsor hopes that the game will be broken.

In this way, there is time to insert advertisements. The game is too fast and smooth, and the advertisements are not easy to put.

So the referee sometimes delays the time, or blows the whistle very badly at less important stages.

Then there is the idea of ​​​​the league. The league definitely hopes that the game will be more dramatic, so that popular teams and stars can win and advance.

Without obviously manipulating the game, the referee will slightly favor those teams supported by the league to help them win the game.

So that more dramatic matchups will appear and the ratings of the NBA will be guaranteed.

Finally, referees are also human beings, and referees also have their own subjective likes and dislikes.

Some referees have a problem with some players, and they will strictly enforce the law against them during the game.

Some referees like certain players very much and have a good personal relationship, so they will relax the whistle appropriately.

Some referees like to be in the limelight, so they intentionally throw the situation into chaos so that they can control the situation themselves.

In short, the referee is definitely not the embodiment of fairness and justice, but a balance regulator of the game.

After the conference call, the three referees discussed how to play tonight's game.

Joe DeRosa is the referee tonight. He said: "Bozia told us to blow the whistle tighter so that no one gets hurt. But he also said, be careful of Smart Min. Doesn't he know that the two Is there a contradiction between them?"

Rodney Moto agreed with De Rosha, saying: "Yes, he is too strict. This guy Smart will definitely go crazy. He has been very aggressive in the past month. He has been fined twice by the league. A little I don't hold back. I don't want to be entangled by him."

Leon Wood, as the third referee, didn't say much, but said: "Do your best, the referee shouldn't be disturbed by these things."

De Rosa shook her head and said: "This season is my last season of law enforcement. I don't want to make any mistakes in the final stage. I am going to retire. The two of you will take care of me and control the situation, okay? ?”

De Rosa entered the NBA in the 1989-1990 season and started his career as a referee. This year happens to be his 20th year, and he will retire next season.

People who are approaching retirement always want to stand on the last post in a safe and secure manner, and don't want any mistakes to make their retirement career have a bad start.

Both Wood and Moto expressed their understanding, saying that they would control the scene well tonight and prevent Min Congda from having anything to do.

"By the way, today's game, what do you want to play, my last regular season game." De Rosa asked.

Referees work under a lot of pressure, and they are not good at both sides. No one praises if they blow up well, and everyone scolds them if they blow up badly.

So before each game starts, many referees will make a small bet.

For example, when O'Neal will be cut tonight, who will call the first technical foul, how many three-pointers will Kobe make, and so on.

Wood thought for a while, and said, "Why don't we bet on who Smart-Min will rant about first tonight? $100."

The three of them met, nodded, and agreed.

(End of this chapter)