first off, mavs outplayed the rockets since the beginning of the game 7. they most likely would've won the game anyway.

most likely.

it's just that the refs never gave the rockets a chance to come back.

i first noticed the refereeing when tmac got his first T. he got 3 offensive rebounds and missed 4 point-blank layups.

even moochie norris can't miss 4 layups in a row. Tmac knew there was contact, let the refs know about it, and got the T.

then, mike james on a breakaway layup, which was rejected by armstrong. both men crashed to the floor, with armstrong apparently hurt and james getting back up on defense. 4 on 5 with mavs short 1 guy on offense.

then refs blew a whistle on james for a hand-checking foul while fighting around a pick.

now see, the rockets fans are not stupid, and neither is mike james. we know you blow the whistle to take away rockets number advantage that we had. mike james was furiously, and i thought he was going to hit the ref at one point.

i knew i would've. i was standing up shouting out loud at that call. i know for a fact that if i were in james' position, i would have punched the ref. unfortunately, james had enough restraint in him and was properly ejected out of the game.

you mavs fans might think "hey, shut up, you fucking whining rockets homer, that was a foul." and i'd agree with that.

but what pissed me off is that when rockets got the ball back after that possession, michael finley hand-checked mcgrady 4, count them, FOUR times around the perimeter. the surprise?

there was no call.

at one point, i was so mad at one point that i told yi, "mavs are getting at least 10 more calls than the rockets."

he checked online. rockets with 18 personal fouls. mavs?

10.

so i was off by 2. but i think you get the idea, that rockets committing 2x amount of fouls as mavs.

it's funny how yao's getting slapped on the wrist shooting baby hooks, tmac getting hand-checked every time down the court, scott padgett getting pushed around on the offensive glass AFTER he got the rebound, and refs letting it play on.

mav's end? you could probably take a wild guess.

now i'm not taking anything away from the way mavs played tonight. even with fair officiating, mavs would probably still come out on top.

but it just hurt THAT MUCH MORE when you aren't given a chance to play on equal grounds, start a rally, and try to comeback.

with everything said and done, rockets had a great season. they played through injuries, roster changes, early criticisms, a 6-11 start, and just about everything else to fight their way to a 51-win season. they refused to toy the season ranking in order to get a easier first round matchup, and simply played to win. they received arguably the worst first round matchup possible against the mavs, who has much healthier, faster, and more athletic team. before the post season started, i even went as far as prefering spurs as a first round opponent over the mavs. but the rockets ignored all that and just played. they took a great mavs team to 7 games and fought brilliantly along the way. though they fell short, they've shown to me that this can be a very dangerous team in years to come.

these are the tears of joy, and i'm a proud rockets fan.