Portland Trail Blazers Game Four: Fowl Trouble

Game four of the Portland Trail Blazers 2008-09 season was a fowl game.  The Blazers held a lead late in the third quarter, but watched it disappear as a very talented Utah Jazz team inevitably came back on their home court. The reason Portland lost was early foul trouble in the fourth quarter.  With eight minutes left in the game, they already had five fouls.  And the Jazz took full advantage, hitting 19 out of 20 free throws for the game. Portland needs to learn how to stay out of foul trouble.  BUT...too many of the calls against Portland were bogus. They were FOWL. Particularly fowl was a call late in the fourth quarter made several seconds after Mehmet Okur dropped to the floor.  It was pretty clear the refs were favoring the home team, but that is part of the challenge in winning an NBA game.   Players and teams tend to establish a reputation for getting calls, and a veteran Jazz team that has gone to the western conference finals and is in playoff ... (link)