People have bad days at work. That was certainly the case for the three officials, Zach Zarba, John Goble, and Olandis Poole, who oversaw the Knicks-Bulls games tonight. At first, the Bulls took advantage of being allowed to mug the Knicks in plain sight of the cameras. The three men must have accidentally sat on sticks during halftime and blew their whistles as of that was the case.
Carmelo Anthony was inexplicably tossed from the game after a second, dubious technical foul. Joakim Noah was thrown out after his second technical (the first being questionable). Tyson Chandler was ejected at the same time as Noah as the two puffed their chests at one another. It was Chandler's first T and there was no basis for the ejection beyond egotism.
J.R. Smith fouled out of the game, or at least the refs decided it should be so. Smith called for six fouls although a couple of them are missing and presumed never to have occurred. Coach Mike Woodson was tossed for speaking truth to power.
In reality, this game seemed more like an experimental therapy session for the referees than an NBA basketball game. It was sad. The players, fans, and the league deserve better than what Zarba, Goble, and Poole gave us on this day.
But the refs' despicable performance shouldn't diminish the Bulls'. Chicago had a comfortable 13 point lead at the half in MSG. The Knicks unraveled in the third. For the game, Anthony had 29 points and Smith had 26, but the team shot poorly from the field, both near and far.
Raymond Felton, who had really struggled with his shot, decided to penetrate to the tin int he fourth and helped spark a dramatic comeback. But the Knicks were in too big of a hole thanks to the refs' ridiculous calls.
The Bulls won 110-106. The Knicks fall to 19-7.
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