Breaking down the officiating in Rockets-Warriors and the other second-round series

In this episode of The HoopsHype Podcast, Alex Kennedy is joined by Martin Rogers of USA TODAY Sports. They discuss the Houston Rockets’ complaint to the NBA about the officiating in Game 7 of last year’s Western Conference Finals against the Golden State Warriors. They also break down what that means for this year’s series and preview the other series around the NBA in this exciting second round. Time-stamps are below!

:23: Martin is covering the Warriors-Rockets series, so they discuss Houston’s issues with the officiating (dating back to last year’s playoffs). The Rockets believe they were robbed of the 2018 NBA title.

4:45: Early in this series, both teams have been frustrated with the officiating. Alex and Martin discuss some of the comments that have been made.

7:20: Will the officiating change now that the Rockets made their frustration public?

9:10: When players or coaches criticize officiating, they typically get fined by the NBA. Did the Rockets get around the rules by leaking this memo?

11:20: If this series drags out and is emotionally and physically taxing, that could help whichever teams face off against the winner of this match-up in the Western Conference Finals and NBA Finals.

14:50: Could this blow up in Houston’s face and upset the refs?

16:40: The Rockets made several recommendations to the NBA including adding a fourth on-court ref, providing a full-game report after each contest (similar to the two-minute report) and assigning refs to playoff games based on call accuracy rather years of experience.

19:40: Breaking down the two Eastern Conference match-ups and whether they could drag out to seven games as well.

21:40: Marc Gasol has been incredible on the defensive end this postseason. Raptors GM Masai Ujiri deserves credit for acquiring Gasol, Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green and drafting Pascal Siakam No. 27 overall.

23:17: Leonard is playing the best basketball of his career and some of his peers (such as CJ McCollum and Kendrick Perkins) have compared him to Michael Jordan. Will he surprise everyone by re-signing with Toronto?

28:10: Examining the Celtics-Bucks series and what we’ve learned so far.

34:00: Throughout this season, some people called Celtics coach Brad Stevens overrated. They discuss the job Stevens has done.

36:30: Previewing the Blazers-Nuggets series and how each team entered the second round. Is there any way the winner can advance to the NBA Finals?

This episode is sponsored by Seat Geek! Be sure to download the Seat Geek app (or visit their website) and enter the promo code HOOPSHYPE for $10 off your first ticket purchase!