Shit.

Not to take anything away from the Nuggets, but I haven't seen officiating this bad in a long time. Two key plays that stick out to me came in the last four minutes. The first was a BS goaltending call on KG (automatic 2 instead of a turnover) and the second was an obvious charge that was called a blocking foul against Pierce. The referee was telling Pierce that he was inside the circle, but replays clearly showed that he wasn't. Those two plays were huge in a game this close. I find this especially interesting because I just recently listened to a podcast on ESPN in which Oscar Robertson told Stephen A. Smith that he hates the charge circle. His point, which seems very valid, was that under the rules now a player could take it totally out of control all the way from half court and slam you three rows back and if you're inside the circle it would be a foul on you. In this case, the referee used the circle (even though he was wrong) to justify making a call that was obviously wrong. Pierce had his feet set, he was in good position, he was OUTSIDE OF THE CIRCLE and that should have been a charge.

Regardless, I loved what I saw tonight from the Celtics. Rondo had an outstanding game (including a sick dunk on a Posey miss that made him look like Dominique Wilkins or something). I also love the fact that the Celtics made Denver work until the very end. The Nuggets just had the momentum all night. Marcus Camby hit a three in the closing minutes. You know you're probably screwed when that happens. If KG plays his normal minutes, the Celtics win. The Celtics would beat the Nuggets eight out of ten anyways because Denver does not play defense at all.

It's only the tenth loss. The first loss to the West. Bad officiating was a huge factor. The Nuggets played outstanding and the Celtics did not. The Pistons lost tonight as well, so we still have the same lead on them. We're all going to be ok.........