NBA NEEDS TO FIX THIS PROBLEM

Game 3 of the NBA Finals was such a downer it looked like an uncut version of Celtic Pride.

Who is to blame? For one, the NBA should take some responsibility here for scheduling Game 2 and Game 3 just two days apart. Both teams barely had 24 hours to fly from Boston to L.A. and get ready for Game 3 at Staples Center.

But the short turnaround was just one reason for the 87-81 boredom.

When the referees allowed P.J. Brown, Kendrick Perkins and James Posey to put their hands on the Lakers, the triangle offense became very disjointed. There was no flow to the game. It felt like a Knicks-Heat game from the mid-90s crashed the 2008 NBA Finals.

Now that we are on the subject of officiating, I found it very amusing that the Tim Donaghy case suddenly grew some legs when Game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference finals between the Lakers and Sacramento Kings became the epicenter of the NBA's gambling controversy.

Donaghy's alleged that two of the three referees in that game, known to be "company men," wanted to extend the series to a deciding seventh game. The team that lost Game 6 had two players ejected, the letter claims, and eventually lost the series.

Once the capital city of Sacramento caught wind of this claim, it opened up an old wound and the fans unleashed hell on the radio and newspapers. Kings fans called it validation of their worst fears.

Well, if the Kings fans and the Kings organization are going to open old wounds then let us relive Game 5 of that series and see if that game was not stolen from the Lakers.

We should revisit the two phantom fouls Shaquille O'Neal was whistled for that led to the Diesel fouling out with four minutes left in the fourth quarter.

We should go back and watch the refs give the ball back to Sacramento despite replay showed the ball clearly bounced off Chris Webber's hands on the baseline. On the next play, Mike Bibby hits a corner jumper to give the Kings the lead for good.

Let us rewind to the final play of the game when Kings guard Bobby Jackson pulled Kobe Bryant's jersey to prevent him from making the last shot.

If the Kings, Ralph Nader and the NBA are going to go back and question Game 6, they might as well push the rewind button to Game 5 because it's only fair. I'm not saying Game 6 was whole because it was not. It was terrible official at its best.

In my opinion, Game 5 was the worst officiated NBA playoff game I've ever witness. Then, Game 6 topped it.