I take fairness pretty seriously. After the very entertaining game the other night between the Houston Rockets and Chicago Bulls, I saw a lot of complaints about the officiating during the game. Specifically, many Rockets fans were upset by the discrepancy in the amount of free throws taken by the Bulls (30) as compared to the Rockets (5). The Bulls typically draw a lot of fouls each game, so there was no surprise with the amount they got. But James Harden is a foul-drawing machine, and he only went to the line 3 times. The discrepancy also set a number of records for both teams. I watched the entire game, and the eye test told me there were a couple questionable or bad calls each way, but I didn't notice any clear bias.

It seemed like a coincidence. I wanted to be sure, though, and so I spent several hours over the last two days going through every single possession and analyzing every instance where a foul was called, should have been called, or might have been called. If a foul was called, I watched it at slow speed at least 3 times to see whether it was a good call, a questionable one, or a bad one. If a call was missed, I checked to see how blatant it was. If a ball went out of bounds, I watched it at slow speed 3 times to see if the possession was correctly given.

Below are the notes I took next to each instance. I didn't make a note if a shot was missed and there was no contact at all or the shot was uncontested. I also didn't make a note on turnovers where no clear contact was made. Every made shot, every contested shot, and every possession call is noted. I don't expect you to read through these, but you can make reference to them as needed. I have bolded every questionable, missed, or bad call.

For the results, scroll to the bottom.

Notes

1st Quarter

· 11:43 – Pau Gasol makes turn-around jumper. Howard bodies him but no contact.

· 11:27 – Donatas Motiejunas makes mid-range jumper. Pau Gasol jumps to contest, but there’s minimal if any contact.

· 11:08 – Blocking foul called on Motiejunas as Kirk Hinrich drives around the 3-point line. Clearly stuck his leg out as Hinrich tried to turn the corner. Good call.

· 10:28 – Motiejunas makes a short jumper. Noah contests but no contact.

· 10:07 – Shooting foul called on James Harden as Jimmy Butler drives to the rim. Harden pushed with elbow into Butler’s back and made contact with Butler’s fingers. Good call. Butler makes both free throws.

· 9:59 – Patrick Beverly makes uncontested running bank shot.

· 9:44 – Hinrich makes long jumper. Trevor Ariza somewhat contests but makes no contact.

· 9:26 – Dwight Howard makes uncontested alley-oop dunk.

· 9:09 – Gasol makes long jumper, Motiejunas somewhat contests but no contact.

· 8:44 – Motiejunas makes uncontested jumper.

· 8:28 – Gasol makes uncontested jumper.

· 8:08 – Motiejunas gets blocked by Joakim Noah, then misses jumper contested by Noah. Lower body contact only on first, no contact at all on second.

· 8:04 – Howard makes layup, shooting foul called on Noah. Noah clearly hacks his arm, good call. Howard misses FT.

· 7:52 – Derrick Rose is double teamed (Beverly, Motiejunas) in the corner, his attempted pass hits Motiejunas’ hands and elbow and possibly Rose’s shoulder before it goes out of bounds (angle makes it hard to tell). Possession is given to Houston. Questionable call.

· 7:38 – Harden makes uncontested elbow jumper.

· 7:25 – Gasol makes uncontested elbow jumper.

· 7:10 – Howard misses layup, contested by Noah and Gasol. No clear contact or foul.

· 7:03 – Shooting foul called on Howard as Noah went to dunk. Howard practically fell on top of him, knocks Noah to the ground. Good call. Noah makes both FTs.

· 6:47 – Harden makes running jumper. Hinrich contests, but only contact is Harden’s knee pushing Hinrich backwards.

· 6:27 – Noah tips in a missed Rose shot. Motiejunas plays good defense on Rose, who tries to draw contact, but no foul is called.

· 6:08 – Harden makes 3-pointer. Hinrich barely constests, no contact.

· 5:55 – Rose misses contested layup. Beverly plays good defense, no foul, no call.

· 5:48 – Harden’s running layup is blocked from behind by Hinrich. No contact, no call.

· 5:43 – Beverly makes running floater. Rose tries to contest from behind, but makes only minimal body contact.

· 5:18 – Ariza makes uncontested layup.

· 4:37 – Beverly tips in a missed 3 by Harden.

· 4:19 – Gasol makes turn-around layup. Howard and Motiejunas contest, but no clear contact/foul.

· 3:59 – Personal foul called on Motiejunas as Gasol receives a pass. Clear contact was made as Motiejunas reached in and hit Gasol’s left arm. Good call.

· 3:54 – Gasol makes uncontested dunk.

· 3:34 – Beverly makes jumper. Gasol contests from 5 feet away, no contact.

· 3:09 – Gasol makes turnaround floater, contested by Josh Smith but no clear contact/foul.

· 2:57 – Smith makes hook shot. Gasol barely contests, no contact.

· 2:35 – Shooting foul called against Smith as Gasol goes for jumper. Smith reached in with his right hand and was bodying him, but it was seconds before the shot. Questionable call. Gasol makes both FTs.

· 1:57 – Shooting foul called against Kostas Papanikolaou as Taj Gibson goes to shoot. Pap clearly hacks Gibson’s arm in the act of shooting. Good call. Gibson makes both FTs.

· 1:45 – After missing a running shot, Harden knocks the ball out of bounds in a rebound attempt. No clear contact/foul on play, and clearly off Harden’s hands. Possession given to Chicago. Good call.

· 1:29 – Gibson makes uncontested floater.

· 1:18 – Corey Brewer makes uncontested long jumper.

· 0:55 – Butler makes turnaround jumper. Brewer contests, but no clear contact/foul.

· 0:47 – Harden makes layup. Gasol contests, but no clear contact/foul.

· 0:35 – Gibson makes tip-in shot off his own miss. 3 Rockets contest, but no clear contact/foul.

· 0:03 – Gasol makes tip-in shot off Aaron Brooks missed bank shot. No clear contact/foul by any Rockets.

· 0:00 – Butler blocks Harden’s 3-point attempt. No contact, no foul.

2nd Quarter

· 11:47 – Howard misses turnaround jumper. Noah contests, but makes no clear contact/foul.

· 11:36 – Butler makes uncontested alley-oop dunk.

· 11:14 – Jason Terry throws ball out of bounds. Nobody else touched it, possession for Chicago. Good call.

· 10:46 – Personal foul called on Terry. Butler had gotten a steal and Terry clearly fouls him to stop the fast break. Good call.

· 10:40 – Noah makes uncontested dunk.

· 10:22 – Howard tips in a Josh Smith shot. You can hear Noah screaming about goal tending, and indeed the ball was still on the inside of the rim when it was tipped. Missed call.

· 10:10 – Brooks makes uncontested floater.

· 10:00 – Terry makes a running floater and a shooting foul is called on Brooks. Brooks jumped to contest and landed on Terry. Good call. Terry misses the FT.

· 9:40 – Smith makes layup. Gibson contests and there is contact by both players, but no clear foul on either.

· 9:33 – Brooks throws an outlet pass intended for E’Twaun Moore but goes out of bounds. Possession to Houston, good call.

· 9:21 – Smith makes uncontested jumper.

· 8:58 – Smith makes floater. Noah puts his hands up but makes no contact.

· 8:33 – Personal foul called against Brooks as he reaches in on Brewer. Reaches in with both hands, good call.

· 8:09 – Rose makes layup. Smith made tons of contact, but jumped straight up, so no clear foul.

· 7:58 – Brewer makes uncontested 3-pointer.

· 7:49 – Rose makes relatively uncontested layup.

· 7:34 – Howard misses turnaround jumper. He bodies Noah throughout, but Noah doesn’t even put his hands up to contest. No foul.

· 7:28 – Rose makes layup. Brewer contests but only hits the ball, no foul.

· 7:10 – Smith misses layup. Gibson contests, but no clear contact/foul. A loose ball foul is called on Noah as he and Howard go for the rebound, but Noah had position. He and Howard had arms tangled up. It’s a questionable call.

· 6:46 – Nikola Mirotic makes uncontested layup after making a spinning post move around Brewer.

· 6:36 – Howard misses a tip shot off a badly thrown lob, no contact is made and Noah gets the rebound.

· 6:18 – Rose makes jumper after Noah screens Beverly. Noah was fully planted on the screen.

· 6:01 – Harden misses bank shot. Butler had almost stolen the ball just previously and was late to contest, no contact.

· 5:44 – Mirotic makes uncontested bank shot.

· 5:30 – Harden makes 3-point shot. Butler is late to contest and no contact.

· 4:59 – Mirotic makes layup as he bumps Motiejunas in the hip, but no other contact or foul.

· 4:40 – Howard makes layup as he bumps Noah in the hip, otherwise Noah does not contest and no foul.

· 4:20 – Mirotic makes uncontested long jumper.

· 3:59 – Ariza misses a 3-pointer over Mirotic’s outstretched hands. A loose ball foul is called against Beverly, who pretty much ran over Gibson and yanked his arm to the ground as Gibson was gaining possession. Good call.

· 3:50 – Rose misses contested layup. Beverly contests from behind and Howard gets his fingers on the ball, but no foul against Rose.

· 3:44 – Beverly makes running jumper. Mirotic jumps to contest and both land with minor contact, but no foul.

· 3:20 – Harden makes 3-pointer. Rose tries to contest late but no contact/foul.

· 2:59 – Gibson makes dunk off of Butler’s missed layup. Good contests by Howard and Ariza and no fouls.

· 2:45 – Ariza makes uncontested layup.

· 2:31 – Rose makes a bad pass intended for Gasol, Houston possession, good call.

· 2:19 – Motiejunas makes a bad pass intended for Howard, Chicago possession, good call.

· 1:37 – Howard misses layup after he bodies Gasol. Gasol puts his hands up but makes no contact, no foul.

· 1:25 – Gasol turns the ball over on a bad post move, Howard makes no contact.

· 1:19 – Harden makes driving layup. Hinrich gets bumped back and only contests the layup with his face in Harden’s armpit.

· 0:57 – Motiejunas misses uncontested layup off an Ariza steal.

· 0:53 – Personal foul called on Beverly as he grabs Rose to prevent a fast break. Good call.

· 0:50 – Shooting foul called on Motiejunas as he moves his body to block a Rose layup and bounces him off his hip. Good call, but maybe a softie. Rose makes both FTs.

· 0:36 – Beverly makes driving layup. Gasol contests, but only minimal contact after Beverly lands is made.

· 0:27 – Gasol makes long jumper. Howard contests late, no contact made.

· 0:05 – Harden misses long jumper. He faded away as he shot and had separation. Butler contests but makes no contact.

· 0:02 – Smith misses layup. Gibson contests but makes no contact.

3rd Quarter

· 11:49 – Ariza misses layup. Gasol contests but goes straight up and makes no contact. Ariza gets the board, rises up again to shoot but Noah blocks from behind.

· 11:30 – Harden blocks Butler’s turnaround jumper, no contact is made.

· 11:19 – Gasol blocks Harden’s layup from behind and it goes out of bounds. No contact is made, possession to Houston, good call.

· 11:15 – Beverly misses uncontested short jumper.

· 11:00 – Loose ball foul is called on Ariza after Gasol misses a long uncontested jumper. Noah had position and Ariza bumped him away as Noah jumped to rebound. Good call.

· 10:34 – Shooting foul called on Howard as Butler drives and misses a layup. Howard bodied him in midair and brought his hands down into Butler’s. Good call. Butler makes 1 of 2 FTs.

· 9:58 – Howard gets rebound off of a Harden missed 3 and makes a layup. Noah with minimal contact before the shot.

· 9:40 – Harden blocks a Hinrich 3-point attempt, no contact.

· 9:34 – Motiejunas makes uncontested dunk. Noah swipes at the air from behind.

· 9:19 – Ariza partially blocks Butler’s long jumper, no contact.

· 9:11 – Motiejunas makes uncontested layup. Gasol swipes at the air from behind, might have grazed the back of Motiejunas’ head but unclear.

· 8:52 – Butler makes uncontested long jumper.

· 8:28 – Motiejunas makes turnaround jumper after he spins off Gasol. Gasol tries to contest but makes no contact.

· 8:12 – Hinrich makes uncontested long jumper.

· 7:55 – Motiejunas tries spin move again but falls to the ground and shot goes out of bounds. No contact from Noah.

· 7:52 – Rose pass intended for Hinrich knocked out of bounds by Harden, possession to Chicago, good call.

· 7:40 – Pau appears to be struck in the eye by Howard as they vie for a rebound, ball knocked out of bounds by Howard, possession to Chicago but no foul called on Howard. Hard to see what happened, probably a good no-call.

· 7:31 – Ariza called for personal foul. He tried to run over a Gasol screen and grabbed Butler as Butler turns the corner. Good call.

· 7:15 – Harden misses contested layup. Hinrich makes body contact from behind before the layup, Noah partially blocks it as Harden rises. No clear contact for a foul.

· 7:11 – Ariza makes uncontested 3-pointer.

· 6:57 – Rose air balls a 3-pointer. Might have been tipped by Beverly who contests the shot.

· 6:43 – Motiejunas makes uncontested bank shot. Noah tries to contest late but makes no contact.

· 6:29 – Motiejunas blocks a layup attempt by Butler, no contact.

· 6:23 – Butler makes uncontested 3-pointer.

· 6:17 – Butler swipes the ball out of Ariza’s hands out of bounds, possession to Houston, good call.

· 6:02 – Beverly misses uncontested floater, Rose got caught on a screen and couldn’t contest.

· 5:57 – Shooting foul called on Beverly as Rose drives for a layup. Beverly clearly hacks him in the right shoulder from behind, good call. Rose makes both FTs.

· 5:42 – Ariza misses driving layup, Hinrich partially blocks it from behind, Noah has his hands up in front. No clear foul but a lot of bodies on the drive.

· 5:36 – Shooting foul called on Motiejunas as Hinrich makes a driving layup. Motiejunas slides into the lane and bounces Hinrich off his hips. Good call, but another softie. Hinrich makes the FT.

· 5:18 – Harden misses fade away jumper. He created enough separation that Butler couldn’t effectively contest, no contact made.

· 4:59 – Personal foul called on Gasol. He was jostling Howard in the post as Howard fought for position, clearly reached over his shoulder. Good call.

· 4:51 – Butler kicks ball out of bounds as Harden dribbles, possession to Houston, good call.

· 4:44 – Hinrich intercepts a pass from Smith intended for Brewer. Brewer reaches over Hinrich’s right shoulder to swipe the ball as Hinrich turns, hits his shoulder, the ball is knocked loose and picked up by Beverly. Unclear how much contact with Hinrich’s shoulder is made. Probably a good no-call.

· 4:26 – Howard attempts a layup and is stripped by Noah. Gasol makes no contact from behind and Noah grabs the ball as Howard spins around Gasol. No foul is committed.

· 4:15 – Rose makes uncontested 3-point jumper.

· 3:53 – Harden misses contested 3-point jumper. Noah lunges at him but makes no contact, although he did kind of stiff-arm Harden a few seconds before the shot. No foul on the shot.

· 3:46 – Smith makes a tip shot off his own miss. Smith’s first shot was largely uncontested, Gasol tries to come off the screen but Smith’s right arm pushes his hand away (he shot with his left). Tip in is uncontested.

· 3:33 – Rose gets in traffic and attempts a short pass to Noah but it goes out of bounds. Too many bodies to see clearly but Noah and Rose were closest to the ball when it went out of bounds. Possession to Houston, good call.

· 3:19 – Smith tips in his own miss off the glass. First shot contested by Noah, who got one hand up but no contact/foul was made.

· 3:02 – Offensive foul called on Noah, who stuck his rear out and committed a moving screen on Brewer. Good call.

· 2:46 – Harden misses driving layup. Gibson contested from behind but only gets one hand up and makes no contact with Harden.

· 2:30 – Brooks pass intended for Gibson tipped out of bounds by Terry. Possession to Chicago, good call.

· 2:29 – Butler makes jumper. Brewer grabs his arm to try and prevent the inbound pass and then bumps into Butler as he jumps, knocking him down. No call is made, but that’s a dangerous play and probably a missed call.

· 2:00 – Shooting foul called on Howard as Gasol tries for a short jumper. Gasol and Howard were face to face and Howard’s hand hits Gasol in the arm as he attempts the shot. Good call. Gasol makes both FTs.

· 1:37 – Howard makes a tip in off his own shot. Gasol contests the first but goes straight up and makes no contact, Mirotic contests the second shot with the same result.

· 1:18 – Personal foul called on Smith. Gibson tries to make a post move and as he moves the ball from left to right Smith swats his left hand. Good call. Gibson makes 1 of 2 FTs as Rockets were over the limit.

· 1:18 – Loose ball foul called on Mirotic as Gibson misses the 2nd FT. He and Smith were vying for position and although Mirotic got position finally, he clearly bullied his way in there. Good call.

· 1:02 – Smith makes uncontested long jumper.

· 0:43 – Gibson gets his left hand swatted by Terry, drops the ball, picks it up, and proceeds to get the ball poked from behind by Smith. Gibson trips over Brewer and tweaks his ankle. No foul called, but there was a lot of jostling and probably should have been a call. Missed call.

· 0:37 – Terry makes uncontested 3-point shot. Brooks jumps at him very late but makes no contact.

· 0:18 – Gasol misses a short jumper and falls. Although no foul was had on the shot, Howard had been fouling him multiple times while trying to keep him out of post position seconds earlier. Tom Thibodeau earns a technical foul for arguing over it. It was clearly a missed call. Harden makes the technical FT.

· 0:01 – Smith makes uncontested layup. Gasol tries to contest it but is late and makes no contact.

4th Quarter

· 11:46 – Mirotic dribbles off right foot of Howard, possession to Chicago, good call.

· 11:43 – Butler misses a partially blocked 3-point shot. Ariza clearly hits Butler’s left hand and knocks him off balance. Noah knocks the ball out of bounds in a rebound attempt and Houston gains possession. Another missed call, and this one should have been awarded 3 FTs.

· 11:25 – Howard misses a turnaround jumper. Noah clearly hacks his right arm and sends the ball out of bounds. Houston gains possession, but this was a missed call that should have awarded Howard 2 FTs.

· 11:20 – Smith misses uncontested 3-point shot. Gibson lunges at it late but makes no contact.

· 11:12 – Gibson bumps Smith (and not hard), Smith flops on the ground to sell it in an attempt to get a foul called. The ball bounces off Smith’s foot as he flails backward. Possession to Chicago, good call.

· 11:03 – Mirotic makes a dunk. Smith contests it late but there’s no contact.

· 10:41 – A shooting foul is called on Ariza after Butler misses a 3-point shot. Ariza jumped at Butler to contest the shot and clearly kicks Butler’s left foot as Butler is coming down. Good call. Butler makes all 3 FTs.

· 10:25 – Brewer’s layup attempt blocked and knocked out of bounds by Mirotic. Houston gains possession, good call.

· 10:24 – Offensive foul called on Howard as he elbows and bumps into Noah and Noah sells the crap out of it by falling to the floor. Although there was clear contact, this was a softie at best and a questionable call.

· 10:03 – Smith makes uncontested long jumper.

· 9:43 – An outlet pass from Smith to Brewer goes long, Brewer jumps out of bounds and flings it in. Terry makes the wide open uncontested 3-point shot. Replay shows Brewer with his foot a good two feet out of bounds as he throws it. This is a straight up bad missed call.

· 9:04 – Personal foul called on Terry as he grabs Butler to prevent a fast break. Good call.

· 9:00 – Noah dribbles the ball off his foot and out of bounds. Possession to Houston, good call.

· 8:49 – Brewer makes a dunk. Gibson contests late but makes no contact. A travel call is desired on Smith, but it looks like Smith dropped the ball off to Brewer before his third step hit the court. Probably a good no-call.

· 8:37 – Rose makes an uncontested bank shot. Brewer tries to contest late but makes no contact.

· 8:15 – Smith misses uncontested jumper, but Mirotic shoves Howard out of position and earns a loose ball foul. Good call.

· 8:02 – Long pass from Noah intended for Gibson is thrown long and Houston gains possession. Good call.

· 7:44 – Motiejunas makes turnaround jumper. Noah and Mirotic contest but no clear contact is made.

· 7:28 – Mirotic makes uncontested dunk.

· 7:10 – Personal foul called on Noah, who was vying with Motiejunas for post position. Could have gone either way but Noah looked like the aggressor. Good call.

· 6:52 – Hinrich makes uncontested 3-point shot.

· 6:22 – Offensive foul called on Gibson, who shoulder Motiejunas as he drove and Motiejunas sold it by crashing to the ground. A softie, and Motiejunas wasn’t really set, so a moderately questionable call.

· 6:05 – Beverly makes uncontested fadeaway jump shot.

· 5:42 – Personal foul called on Hinrich, who reached in and swatted at Harden as he was dribbling just outside the paint. Good call.

· 5:05 – Harden’s layup is blocked by Mirotic. Replay shows there was no contact on the block.

· 4:43 – Harden swats at the ball being dribbled by Mirotic, goes out of bounds. Chicago gains possession, good call.

· 4:33 – Mirotic swats at the ball being dribbled by Harden, goes out of bounds. Houston gains possession, good call.

· 4:07 – 3 second violation is called on Howard. He was there for 3 seconds, but barely. Probably unnecessary, but a good call.

· 3:52 – Personal foul called on Harden as he swats Gasol’s arm after a rebound. Good call.

· 3:47 – Rose misses a driving layup. No contact on the play, but Beverly sits right on top of Rose against the stanchion for a few seconds to prevent Rose from returning to the court. Kind of dirty, and a missed call.

· 3:19 – Gasol tips in a shot after multiple misses. There were a lot of bodies but Beverly clearly hits Gasol across the back of the neck as he goes for the shot, and Beverly is called for the shooting foul. Good call. Gasol makes the FT.

· 2:56 – Butler makes uncontested long jumper.

· 2:35 – Beverly misses a floater. He and Gasol jump into each other and Beverly gets bounced back a bit, but no clear foul.

· 2:22 – Offensive foul called on Harden against Butler. Butler plants with his right as Harden shoulders him and also hits Butler in the back with his right hand. Butler sells the foul by falling to the court. It’s a little of a softie, but there was still clear contact and it’s a good call.

· 2:06 – Shooting foul called on Harden as Gasol misses a long jumper. Replay shows Harden’s right hand hitting Gasol in the ear/head, but it’s really soft and incidental. A questionable call at best. Gasol makes both FTs.

· 1:57 – Personal foul called on Noah as he and Howard vie for post position. No idea how Noah fouled him, if anything Howard bumped Noah a few times. A questionable call.

· 1:46 – Smith makes uncontested 3-point jumper. Noah comes late and makes no contact.

· 1:30 – Butler makes uncontested 3-point jumper. Ariza comes late and makes no contact.

· 1:07 – Shooting foul called against Beverly as Rose misses a layup. Angle is terrible, but it looked like Beverly hit his left hand, and Howard shoved Rose off balance as he shot. Good call. Rose makes both FTs.

· 0:56 – Harden misses an uncontested 3-pointer. His step-back move made Butler contest it too late and no contact resulted. Howard tips the ball away from Noah and out of bounds. Chicago possession, good call.

· 0:39 – Mirotic makes uncontested 3-pointer. Harden tries to close out very late.

· 0:33 – Shooting foul called against Mirotic as Harden drives and misses the layup. Mirotic clearly hits his left arm during the drive. Good call. Harden makes both FTs.

· 0:26 – Shooting foul called against Smith as Noah makes a layup. Smith clearly hacks at Noah’s left arm on the drive. Good call. Noah misses the FT.

· 0:15 – Loose ball foul called on Ariza as he and Mirotic fight for a rebound. Mirotic had position and Ariza threw some arms in there. Good call. Mirotic makes both FTs.

· 0:03 – Beverly misses contested 3-point shot. Rose jumps up with arms in the air but no contact is made.

Results

I've compiled all the notes, compared them to the official records, and tallied the results below for each team.

Rockets:

· Of 47 made shots, only 9 were contested enough to make any contact, and only 1 resulted in contact that should have been a foul but was not called. 26 shots were completely uncontested, and 12 were contested but zero contact was made.

· Of 55 missed shots, only 4 were contested enough to make any contact, and no foul calls were missed. 51 shots were either contested with no contact or completely uncontested.

· Of 27 fouls called against the Rockets, 14 were shooting fouls, 3 were loose ball fouls, 8 were personal fouls, and 2 were offensive fouls. Of the 27, 24 were good calls (but 3 were softies), 3 were questionable. Of 14 shooting fouls, 9 were at the rim, 3 were short jumpers, 1 was a long jumper, and 1 was a 3-point shot.

· Of 3 questionable calls, 1 led to a lost possession, 2 led to a total of 4 FTs. Of 3 soft calls, 1 led to a lost possession, 2 led to a total of 3 FTs.

· There was 1 missed shooting foul call that should have been called in the Rockets’ favor, and should have resulted in 2 FTs.

Bulls:

· Of 41 made shots, only 7 were contested enough to make any contact, and only 2 resulted in contact that should have been a foul but was not called. 22 were completely uncontested, and 12 were contested but zero contact was made.

· Of 44 missed shots, only 2 were contested enough to make any contact, and no foul calls were missed. 42 shots were either contested with no contact or completely uncontested.

· Of 13 fouls called against the Bulls, 3 were shooting fouls, 3 were loose ball fouls, 5 were personal fouls, 2 were offensive fouls. 1 technical foul was also called. Of the 13, 10 were good calls, 3 were questionable. Of 3 shooting fouls, 2 were at the rim, 1 was a short jumper.

· Of 3 questionable calls, 1 led to a lost possession, 2 led to Rockets retaining possession.

· There was also 1 questionable possession call leading to a lost possession.

· There were 6 missed calls that should have been called in the Bulls’ favor. 1 was offensive goal tending, which should have resulted in 2 points less for the Rockets. 2 were shooting fouls that should have resulted in 4 FTs for the Bulls. 2 were personal fouls, 1 of which would have prevented a technical foul that awarded 1 FT. 1 was a loose ball foul, which should have resulted in a gained possession. 1 other personal foul should have been called, but no possessions or points were clearly lost as a result of the missed call.

· There was one badly missed call on an out-of-bounds play that led to 3 points for the Rockets. The 3 points should have been negated and the Bulls should have gained possession.

If we add all the questionable calls (including softies), missed calls, and bad calls together, here are the results:

Rockets: 1 lost possession, 2 extra fouls (leading to 4 Bulls FTs), 1 missed foul (would have given 2 Rockets FTs)

Bulls: 3 lost possessions, 2 missed calls (leading to 5 Rockets points), 2 missed fouls (would have given Bulls 4 FTs) 1 less foul (led to Rockets technical FT)

So in conclusion, if this game had been called completely fairly, the Rockets would have shot a total of 6 FTs, and the Bulls a total of 30 FTs. The Bulls should have had two extra possessions, and the Rockets should have been awarded 5 less points. This takes into account the missed call when Howard was hacked in the beginning of the 4th quarter, as well as when Harden barely touched Gasol's right ear and got called for a foul; these two plays were touted by Rockets fans as evidence of biased officiating. I also noted each time a player flopped or sold a foul a little, and whether or not it should have swayed the call.

Most of the shooting fouls awarded to the Bulls were off of layups or other shots at the rim. They were more aggressive in their paint action, while most of the Rocket's 62 paint points were uncontested or no contact was made at all on a contest. The Bulls shot 48.2% to the Rockets' 46.1%, the Bulls outrebounded the Rockets 17/47 to 16/41, had 2 more assists, had 1 more steal, and 4 more blocks.

Obviously, no game is going to be called completely fairly. The referees are humans and they miss stuff. But at least in this case, there is absolutely no evidence of bias in favor of the Bulls in this match. Both teams played well, but the Bulls played a little better and came away with the win.

Feel free to share this with all of your angry Rockets fan friends. The Rockets are a great team, but their loss has a lot more to do with Josh Smith taking 3-pointers at the end of the game than it does with any imagined referee bias.



