It's pretty obvious the refs blew this game. I am not a Celtics fan, and I am not a heat fan - in fact, I dislike them both equally. Let me also state that yes I did bet on this game, but the calls luckily did not impact the result of my bet.

Anyone who knows basketball, and more importantly knows the RULES of basketball, can realize that both calls on Paul Pierce were blown calls. I won't even comment on the Jermaine O'Neal situation, as I did not see it live, nor have I seen a replay of it yet.

The first Pierce technical:
Paul Pierce pump faked, and got his man (James Jones) up in the air. He then went to shoot, jump into him, and hopefully draw the foul - a very common NBA play. Now what many of you don't seem to understand is that a Flagrant Foul is when a player uses excessive contact, deemed unnecessary, and/or when a player fouls an offensive player, WITHOUT making a play on the ball. This is exactly what happened in this situation, as James Jones fouled him, and grabbed his arms/back/entire body, without ever trying to make a play on the ball.

That should have been called a Flagrant Foul immediately, and Paul Pierce's reaction was not deserving of a technical. He never headbutted him, no matter how many times Mark Jackson/Van Gundy (I forget which one continued calling it a headbutt) claimed that he did.

Regardless, I understand giving Pierce a Technical so that the game does not get out of hand. BUT, a DOUBLE Technical? James Jones did not do one thing to deserve a technical. This entire play was a mess.

The second Pierce Technical:
Dwayne Wade was guarding Ray Allen as he was running off screens. It was obvious that Dwayne Wade deliberately lowered his shoulder and ran into Paul Pierce with WAY more force than is necessary in BASKETBALL. The ref then blows his whistle and calls a foul on Wade. No problem with this so far.

Immediately following the whistle and the foul, Pierce and Wade exchange a few words. Please tell me what basketball player doesn't talk trash, especially in a heated playoff series? You could tell the ref was anticipating that call, as he called the Technical before either of them could say more than one sentence each to each other.

This is the wrong call, PERIOD. These are two All-Stars, not to bench players. This is the NBA playoffs, not high school basketball. Not only does this call dramatically affect the potential outcome of the game, by ejecting the Captain of the Celtics team, but it did so when the game mattered the most, in the fourth quarter. If these were the real rules in the NBA, do you realize how many games Michael Jordan would NOT of finished? or Kobe? or ANYONE?

If you watched the post game show, Michael Wilbon said it perfectly. He essentially said that it does not matter what he said, that he could say the worst thing in the world possible to Dwayne Wade, and that it shouldn't be worthy of a second Technical and automatic ejection. These two are top tier players, in a heated contest in the fourth quarter of the playoffs. Do you really expect them to not jaw at each other? That's absurd. As long as that smack talking stays between the players, and does not turn into a fight, then the refs should let them play.