Game 3 free-throw gap highlights the ability of NBA refs to put finger on scale

When it comes to the integrity of sport, few participants have more influence than the officials who interpret and apply the rules in real time.

For basketball, eyebrows are raised when significant disparities arise in free throws.

After Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Monday night, Knicks coach Mike Brown expressed concern about the Spurs having 24 free-throw attempts in the second half, while New York had eight.

The Knicks had led by seven at halftime. The Spurs won the game, 115-111.

“I talked to [the officials],” Brown said, via Vincent Goodwill of ESPN. “They outshot us 14-3 in the third quarter from the free-throw line. I talked to them, and they said, ‘Well, this is a foul, this is a foul. That’s the question I had with them is, ‘You’re right. Maybe we did foul. But they fouled, too.'”

Goodwill acknowledged that officiating will be an issue in Game 4, given his remarks.

“It’s going to be that because I said it,” Brown said. “The story is going to be there.”

That’s the thing about a seven-game series. The working of the officials extends from game to game.

And the work of the officials will be scrutinized. Especially in the age of legalized gambling. Tin-foil hat wearers (whose conspiracy theories become more plausible given the many ways pro sports leagues and teams are wetting their beaks via sports betting) would claim that the officials and/or the league wanted to avoid a four-game sweep. And so, the theory would go, they put a finger on the scale to help the Spurs on Monday night.

The explanation could be as simple as, yes, the Knicks committed more fouls. But the gap in free throws is what it is. And it is something that more people will be paying attention to on Wednesday night.

For the NFL, there are fewer natural incentives for the league to want a given team to win a given playoff game. Every postseason contest is single elimination. For the NBA, a four-game series becomes far less profitable (given all of the various revenue streams) than a five-, six-, or seven-game series.