As long as the NBA playoffs exist, there will be chatter about the officiating.
But no matter whether the calls are even or one team feels like they got slighted, there’s a simple truth that overrides everything else regarding the whistles.
If you don’t make your free throws, none of the rest matters, a fact that slapped the Mavericks into the loss column on Monday night.
They had too many misfires when they were wide-open from 15 feet and that doomed them in Game 4 as Oklahoma City rallied for a 100-96 victory to tie the series at two wins apiece.