Are the refs in the Chicago Bulls vs Indiana Pacers series cheating?

I was at this game, on the floor seating section, and I can tell you without a doubt that there is some completely unfair refereeing going on. You won't hear Thibs talk about it or the players, because they are strongly discouraged against saying anything against the league's officiating. In fact, I wouldn't put it past the NBA for fining them just for saying that they believed the refereeing during this WHOLE series was very much one sided. Even this would be a gross understatement. If you happened to record today's game, you can deduce without much effort that some pretty ridiculous officiating was going on. You will find an at least 8-10 calls that were completely ludicrous. Before you say "I do not think that it changed the outcome of the game," remember this, the bulls are a completely defensive-oriented team. And when I say this, I mean, their foundation is built upon quick defensive rotations and contesting every shot or layup with tenacity. What happens when one is playing, and their excellent defense is rewarded with a foul granted to the other team time after time? The team had to deviate from it's primary goal, it's bread and butter, shutting down the other team. The referees effectively took the bulls out of this game, and almost did this in previous games of this series. I'm not saying Indiana has played bad, they've played excellent, they've been shooting the ball well. But have the bulls had much trouble against these types of teams this season when refereeing was fair? Not at all, in fact they've dominated a healthy majority of the teams in the league. An interesting stat for those of you who still aren't believers. Frank Vogel was complaining that Derrick Rose was getting to the line too much. In fact he was using it is a crutch for why Indiana had lost the previous 3 games. Is it really just a coincidence that there was somehow a 20 free throw swing between game 3 on thursday, and game 4 today. Do you honestly believe that the bulls, who've been taking the hard fouls this series, (two fouls both of which were not called flagrant during the game (Jeff Foster) but later turned to flagrants which should normally result in suspension) would suddenly change up their game plan and start fouling the **** out of the pacers? Especially after being up 3-0, they definitely would not change up their game plan. This may have been okay if the pacers were suddenly taking the ball to the basket a substantial amount, but this is clearly not the case. Why do the bulls have the best opponent field goal percentage in the league? Because they contest every shot. Is it believable that overnight the bulls would go from a smart defensive team to suddenly hacking and fouling on jump shots? Absolutely not. Have they beaten other teams in spite of shooting poorly? Regularly. Who was Official 1 tonight? Scott Foster. Go ahead and google him and see what a little gem he is. (Donaghey) Combine this with the fact that there's already pressure on the NBA from smaller markets such as Indiana who complain that it's unfair that all the high profile free agents preferentially get to flock to bigger markets. Does the NBA look bad when a smaller market team gets swept by a much larger market team? You better believe it. I'm not saying that this is indeed the case, but I'll let you come to your own conclusions. Watch a Celtics-Knicks game or a Lakers-Hornets game, they let the players play. Then switch to the Pacers-Bulls game and watch how they call fouls on Joakim Noah for looking at Roy Hibbert.

As a Bulls fan I offer little objectivity but I'll say this. The Refs know what they are doing. Wouldn't it be nice for the NBA to extend the series? More games=More money. Think of all the extra Ads, commercials, fan ticket revenue they can make.

If the Pacers were up 3-0 it would be the Bulls the get those generous calls. Of course Refs can Cheat they can Collude together, or the Stern or the Board may simply say call in favor of the Pacers or you're out of a Job. Not saying it is happening but How is this Not possible??? Becuase Justin says so.. Ohhh OKAY well I'm convinced..

NBA has everything to gain by extending the series, what do they have to lose? How would they get Caught??

For starters, you sure watched a lot of thought-to-be-lopsided series for a magic fan. But in all honesty, the Pacers fully deserved to win game, as they made 31 shots(as many as the Bulls) has 1 less rebound, less turnovers. Aside from that, the Bulls only committed 3 more fouls(some were even intentional in final possessions.)

In terms of Fosters Flagrant fouls, I think they were pretty questionable. Rose specializes in making off balance shots in the lane so he was just preventing any kind of shot. They were hard fouls, but it happens in the playoffs. They probably would not have even upgraded the fouls if it wasn't for Foster and Rose's ensuing mini-brawl.

The refs made the correct decision on the Korver 3. It was clearly a shot clock violation. That's a tough call in the moment and they ultimately got it right.

If there has been any officiating biased at all, it has been in favor of the Bulls. Rose shot 4 more Free throws than the entire pacers team in game 1. He haphazardly charges into the lane and the refs give him the benefit of the doubt because he is the mvp. Sure, Rose gets plenty of trips to the line in the regular season, but so does Danny Granger who gets about 6 made free throws a game.

How can anyone claim that officiating is helping the pacers is beyond me when the Net FT attempts has massively in the Bulls favor and the Bulls are up 3-1. Pacers are more talented than people give them credit for(especially there bench play)

I was going to root for the Bulls after they beat the Pacers but after the lack of class the fans have shown("pacers suck"), and the completely unfounded complaining cropping up about officiating, I am taking my fan talents to South Beach. When the Pacers use their overflowing cap money to become a contender, I will be in the stands with 18,000 loyal Hoosiers remembering those "Pacers suck" chants...

Yes I agree they were cheating the bulls callin terrible calls like they did in the Lakers vs Celtics series last season. After game 3 indiana the NBA commissioner was there watchin the refs hang themselves so I think its gonna stop and even if it doesn't it doesn't matter cause the Pacers are a horrible team with no talent and Foster doing those fouls and getting a flagrant later shows alot

There's no such thing as "refs cheating" they are paid to call a game even down the line as possible, just dumb to even think the refs "cheat"

Well yea there's always bad calls in every game, but I don't think it will affect the outcome of this series. Every team has to go through it.

Ref's never fix series'! DUH!

Oh, wait. Kings-Lakers 2003...lol

I agree but they lost but for me it's ok, cuz I MISS Bulls playing at home! So woot woot!

I agree.