The talk coming out of Game 1 between the Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors has largely centered around the officiating, but Houston's beef with the officials didn't just start on Sunday.
According to The Athletic's Sam Amick, the Rockets believe officials have been favoring the Warriors for years, and the team has actually been "making a date-driven case" to support their claims.
"The Rockets have been making a data-driven case with the NBA for quite some time that these Super Team Warriors are getting a major officiating advantage in these heavy-hitter matchups."
"The Rockets, according to the sources, had a double-digit point deficit in six of the seven games (and a small edge in Game 2)," Amick wrote. "In all, sources say, they were harmed to the tune of 93 points. Game Seven was the worst, the research showed, with the league-issued report indicating that they should have had 18 more points. More specifically, two of the 27 consecutive missed three-pointers that did them in were ruled to have been missed foul calls."
Following Houston's 104-100 loss, James Harden and Eric Gordon addressed the officiating, and were specifically annoyed with the non-calls on several three-point field goal attempts, including Harden's potential game-tying shot in the final seconds. Says Harden, "I mean, I just want a fair chance, man." Gordon added, "All I'm going to say is we've been getting [those calls] all year. It should be no different now."
Draymond Green wasn't buying it. When told of Harden's complaints, he told reporters:
"I've been fouled by James on a James 3-pointer before," Green said. "No, I ain't going with that one. ...
"I think we can all sit here and complain about calls after every game. That's just the nature of the game we play. Refereeing is an inexact science. So it is what it is."