Andrew Nembhard drives past Donte DiVincenzo (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
NBA fans are convinced Monday night’s Pacers-Knicks game was rigged following what happened in the final few seconds.
The closely-contested fixture ended up in a tight Knicks win, with the home side going up 1-0 in the series with a 121-117 result following a very entertaining first-round series with the 76ers.
While Monday’s game was also great to watch, the final moments offered multiple controversial calls.
One of them was a kicked ball against Aaron Nesmith. The Pacers forward appeared to touch the ball with his hand, and his team should have gotten possession, but given that kicked balls can’t be challenged, the Knicks retained possession, and Donte DiVincenzo knocked down a huge three.
The Pacers got possession for what could have been the game’s final shot, but DiVincenzo put on some good acting that saw Pacers big man Myles Turner whistled for an illegal screen.
“I don’t want to talk about the officiating. We’re not expecting to get calls in here,” Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said after the loss, via Sports Illustrated. “It would’ve been nice if they’d laid off that one, but they didn’t. That’s just the way it goes.
“We challenged it, they reviewed it. They got a bunch of people in New Jersey that agreed with them, so, that’s just the way it goes.”
The calls prompted rigged chants on social media.
“I’ve always thought the idea that games are ‘rigged’ for certain teams is just stupid,” one fan wrote. “Watching the end of Knicks games this postseason has made me entirely question that belief.”
“The refs have given the Knicks every call for the last 8 minutes of this game,” another commented. “The NBA has never been more rigged.”
“NBA is rigged and I will never forgive them for tonight,” said another “Knicks got every single call down the stretch that every fan knows wouldn’t have gone the other way. Ridiculously terrible officiating.”
You can check out some more reactions below:
Was The Pacers-Knicks Game Really Rigged?
The Pacers-Knicks result sparked rife debate online, with many fans claiming it was rigged while others were fine with the outcome. Sometimes, it just comes down to the team fans want to win.
Referees, of course, are only human and are prone to errors, just like everyone else. While studies have determined that there is some bias in favor of home teams when it comes to how games swing, the notion of refs fixing games is still unfounded.
In any case, the Pacers will have an opportunity to even things up when the sides meet again on Wednesday night.
