Officiating smells like Bullsh*t

Firstly, I apologize to all of you out there for the sensational title. After several hours of recovering from today's loss to the Bulls, evening up the series at 2-2, I couldn't help but feel that this game was stripped from the Heat before they had a chance to claim it for themselves.

Look, I have a master's degree and consider myself a reasonable person with the capacity to be open-minded enough to call me out on my own BS. But I just can't here and I hope someone can.

Because the officiating in this game has to go down as one of the worst ever. I mean, not quite as bad as that Lakers/Kings Game 7 in '03. But pretty damn close.

In games 1 and 2 - both of which were in Miami - the Heat were able to beat the Bulls and keep them at bay. It wasn't the kind of dominating performances you may expect from a #2 seed over it's #7 opponent, but the Heat were able to score at will (shooting a combined 50.3% in those games) and build up leads (at one point, in Game 2, of over 20 points).

In games 1-4, the Bulls shot 45%, 53%, 46% and 45%, respectively while the Heat have hit at 41% the last two games. The sudden collapse from the field would be what most would site as the main reason why the Heat have dropped two straight.

Yet, in Game 4, the Heat were 37-89 while the Bulls were 31-68 from the field. The Heat took and made MORE shots than the Bulls, yet still found a way to lose the game. How?

It wasn't rebounding either - the Heat outrebounded the Bulls 41-34. It wasn't three point shooting - although the Heat hit at a lower efficiency, they made 9 three pointers to the Bulls 7. Again, the Heat took and made more shots than the Bulls.

Turnovers? The Heat had 19, the Bulls had 17. Nothing to work out there.

In fact, the only disparity among the stats of any sort is free throw attempts (FTAs) and fouls. But it is not some minor difference, but a glaring - almost ridiculous - difference.

The Heat shot 5 FTAs. Yep, that is it - I didn't make up the number or mistype it to get my point across - 5 free throws total. 4 by Wade in the second quarter and 1 by Shaq. 5. As many fingers as most have on there hands, as many toes, as in all the digits of a 'high five'.

The Bulls? 31. Sorry, did you miss that? 31 FTAs. That is right, thirty-one. The Bulls got to the line 31 times while the Heat could muster up only 5 FTAs themselves.

YMCA pickup teams could have fared better than the Heat today, which makes for another subject altogether.

Oh yeah, fouls. Fouls for the Heat? 32. Bulls? 14. I am surprised that the officials didnt black out from all the foul calls - they must have had shortness of breath. At least they would have collapsed while calling it against the Heat and maybe put an end to this madness.

Now look, I am not going to take anything away from the Bulls - they have an excellent young team that fights to the finish and never quits. Scott Skiles is one of the better strategists in the NBA among his coaching peers. But this is completely ridiculous.

All of a sudden, the Heat not only couldn't stop the Bulls penetration, but resorted to fouling every chance they got in desperation while ALSO not being able to muster up any kind of offensive attack to even sniff the charity stripe?

Shaq was in foul trouble, yes. But that is how the Heat lose - Shaq gets into foul trouble or is injured and they lose. Key attribute - Shaq is not on the court. Keep him off the court, out of the paint - and keep the game moving in your favor.

Let's review here:

The Heat shot more shots and made more shots from the field than the Bulls.
The Heat shot more threes and made more threes than the Bulls
The Heat grabbed more rebounds.
The Heat had more assists.
The Heat were only -2 in blocks and steals.
The Heat were only +2 in turnovers.
Yet, the Heat were +18 in fouls (the Bulls had 14 total while the Heat had 32)
And the Heat were -26 in FTAs.

Result? Heat lose the game 93-87 and will go back to Miami on Tuesday tied 2-2. The only question that remains, at least to me, is whether or not the officials will remember to bring along their Bulls away unis with them or will they put on Heat jerseys?

Because the disparity did favor the Heat in Game 1 after all - the Heat shot 39 FTAs to the Bulls 17. But for the series, the Bulls have shot 120 total FTAs to the Heat's 102 visits to the line.

This is the most aggravating thing about the NBA and its playoffs. There is virtually no consistency game to game. Change of venue? Change of momentum and all the calls start to - all of a sudden - go to the home team.

Break down Game 4 by FTAs by quarter:
Quarter 1
Heat: 0
Bulls: 2

Quarter 2
Heat: 4 (all by Wade)
Bulls: 2

Quarter 3
Heat: 0
Bulls: 12

Quarter 4
Heat: 1 (Shaq)
Bulls: 15

Keep in mind, it was 44-40 at the half and the game was very much up in the air. Yet, the Bulls started to get every single FT call in the second half (netting 27 of their 31 FTAs or 87% in that span). Having said that, the Bulls only outscored the Heat by +2 the entire second half (21-19 in the 3rd, 28-28 in the 4th).

On the one hand, the Heat have to be very realistic about this and realize that eventhough the entire world was against them, they only lost to the Bulls by 6 on the road in a game they had virtually no chance to win. Still, the more sinister side of things points to an inconsistent handling in the least to a blatant abuse of power at the most.

Something stinks. You be the judge.