The officiating change in the NBA caught some headlines early in the year because it was new. The chatter died down because not even the NBA plays attention to the NBA in the middle of the season, but now it is at full blast. The officiating crackdown on ‘bad behavior’ re-emerged in the spotlight when Joey Crawford chucked Tim Duncan and was then subsequently suspended. The league then came down on the Crawford in an appropriate manner in that the message was consistent. “If you act inappropriately you will be punished”, that is the NBA’s message. The refs are now going to defend their own. Being that this is the first playoffs with the new hard-line approach, the players will invariably cross the line if for no other reason than no one really knows where the line is. Players that are able to adapt an attitude befitting a CYO Sportsmanship Award winner, will be better served.

It happened last night. I liked the Warriors getting 9.5 and I know they would’ve covered had the Warriors not had two dudes, Davis and Jackson no less, get run from the game. Not saying they shouldn’t have been, just saying they were. Expect a few more incidents like this to happen again around the league. The teams and players that can not control themselves must be thought of as a liability, even if only to a minor degree.

Playoffs So Far: I can’t say that I am surprised at anything that has transpired in the playoffs. I like the Warriors more now than I did, but still think the Mavs will win that series . . . The Bulls can sweep the Heat, and just may . . . Detroit will be resting soon . . . New Jersey will all their warts will still advance because of experience and then get SMOKED in the next round. However, should Toronto find a way, they will be very dangerous next round because they will get a missing ingredient which is Playoff Confidence . . . Cleveland is getting a free pass this round . . . The Nuggets will be the next team to implode like the Warriors . . . The Lakers will not make a run at the Suns, repeat WILL NOT . . . The Rockets are interesting, very, very interesting. I think I like them.

Tonight I like a 2-team parlay of (Pistons -2) (Rockets +4.5) for 3-Stars and the (Suns -4) for 2-stars