Basketball Reference did a study to find out whether Celtics fans have legitimate beef with NBA Finals officiating. The results? While the number of fouls called were right around where they should have been expected to be, there was a discrepancy in the number of free throws taken.

That’s only half the story, though — free throws are where the conspiracy buffs really make their case, since the Lakers shot 51 more FTA than the Celtics did despite Boston taking more shots in the immediate basket area. Using the same methodology outlined above, except with FTA/Poss instead of PF/Poss, we see that Los Angeles took .259 FTA/Poss in a league where average was .263. Boston conceded .285 opponent FTA/Poss during the season, so we would expect L.A. to take (.259 / .263) * .285 = .281 FTA/poss in a series with the Celts; instead, they took .335 FTA/poss. On the other side, we would have expected Boston to have .244 FTA/poss against the Lakers, and in reality they had .249.

This result is unexpected — Boston essentially had just as many FTA/poss as we would have expected based on team tendencies, but Los Angeles’ rate of FTA/poss is dramatically higher than we would have expected. However, neither team’s rate of fouls per possession was unexpected, so the only real unexpected outcome of the Finals in the fouling department was the number of free throws Los Angeles shot per foul drawn.

If there really was a conspiracy against the Celtics my question is,why? Why would the league want the Lakers to win the NBA Finals? Why does the NBA benefit if the Celtics lose to the Lakers? I don’t see any reason, other than maybe (and this is a stretch) making Kobe’s star a little bigger than it already was.

As such, I’d like to think the free throw discrepancy was simply a case of the Lakers being more aggressive going to the basket… but who knows? What do you guys think: Were the refs out to get the Celtics?

On another note: Compared to World Cup refs, NBA refs look like they were genetically engineered to never miss a call. And can’t we all just stop talking about the goddamn Finals already? Every time I try to stop thinking about it, something keeps calling me back.

The Celtics have gotten rid of their morning walkthrough, but that doesn’t mean we have to. Here are a few Celtics links, and maybe even an NBA link or two, to help wake you up and get you focused for the day.

Chris Forsberg, ESPN Boston- “Glen Davis didn’t try to sugarcoat it. ’We got our ass kicked, point blank, simple,’ he said. ‘They came out and hit us hard. They beat us mentally and physically. They needed this and they did what they had to do to get it.’ Facing elimination, the Lakers outhustled and outmuscled the Celtics from the opening tip, leaving Boston battered and bruised — both mentally and physically, as Davis noted — after Tuesday’s tilt. Kendrick Perkins suffered a sprained right knee and remains questionable (at best) for Thursday’s decisive Game 7, while Rajon Rondo needed four stitches to close a gash on his chin after absorbing a Ron Artest third-quarter elbow.”

Bill Plaschke, LA Times- “A weathered, brow-wrinkled basketball team in need of an instant makeover pulled one off Tuesday, the Lakers painting themselves in a color as brilliant as it was rare. Desperation. It was brushed on the bloody lips of Pau Gasol, the sweaty glare of Lamar Odom, the floor burns covering Jordan Farmar. It was powdered over a frenetic Ron Artest, streaked across a soaring Shannon Brown and, yeah, dripping from every pore on the angry body belonging to Kobe Bryant.”

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald- “’This is no different situation for us. There’s not going to be another game added where we’re going to be able to go home and play in front of our building. That’s a comfort that the Lakers have right now. So in order for us to accomplish what we want, we’ve got to do it here in this building on this floor against this team, and it’s got to be (tomorrow).’”- Ray Allen

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald- “Gasol attacked the C’s from all directions with 17 points, nine assists and 13 rebounds, including five on the offensive glass. ’Every game the winner has also been the winner of the rebounding battle – it’s really important that we continue that,’said Gasol. ‘It’s something you need to control. It gives you an advantage.’ That especially holds true when the other side disintegrates into the sort of individual lapses that have characterized the worst Celtics losses this season. ’I thought we played an individual game tonight,’ Rivers said. ‘We never had a chance to get into transition and get Rondo going. Everybody was trying to make their own plays. If you try to play a team like the Lakers when you’re desperate, you’re going to lose.’”

“’We take complete responsibility,’ said Ray Allen. ‘You can talk about defense, but it stems a lot from our offense. We didn’t try to make the extra pass. As a starting unit we take responsibility.‘This here is for all the marbles,’ he said. ‘We’ve talked all year long about (getting) into this situation. We’ve been a team that’s operated well when our backs are up against the wall.’”

Steve Buckley, Boston Herald- ”But the Celtics could have wheeled out Perkins and had him stand around for a couple of minutes, and those awful shots would have remained awful. ’Honestly, tonight it wouldn’t have mattered tonight the way things were going, but it would have been nice to have him on the floor,’ coach Doc Rivers said. ‘He’s one of our guys that I think gives us great spirit, gives us a lot of toughness and gives us size. ’You know, I hope he can play. It would be tough if he can’t. Somebody else is just going to have to step forward.’”

Bob Ryan, Boston Globe- “Otherwise, the first three quarters were a complete disaster. (The fourth quarter was a formality). The Lakers shot better, defended better, and they annihilated the Celtics on the boards (52-39, with a 15-6 edge in second-chance points). The home team won all the so-called “50-50’’ battles that are so much in vogue. The Lakers were extremely active defensively, making even the most routine entry pass a Boston adventure. And when it came to entertainment, they trotted out Shannon Brown for a dazzling second-quarter alley-oop from Gasol on which he almost certainly created a stir at the LAX control tower.”

Andy and Brina Karnenetzky, ESPN Los Angeles- “It was clear from the opening tip Tuesday the Lakers team taking the floor was different from the group Boston confounded in Game 5. Bryant hit four of his first five shots, and was able to make his way to the rim. Andrew Bynum was a presence inside early, scoring L.A.’s second basket of the game and hauling in more rebounds in the first 3:18 of the first quarter (two) than he did in 32 minutes of Sunday’s game. (Bynum watched most of the second half with an ice pack on his bum right knee after tweaking it again with just under two minutes left in the third, obviously a story to watch.) Ron Artest canned his first jumper of the night, a triple from the right corner, and the Lakers ran out to a 10-point lead after the first 12 minutes.  ’We executed,’ Bryant said. ‘We executed extremely well. You didn’t see us blow too man assignments and [give up] too many easy opportunities, which we did in Boston. Then on top of that, we had a lot of effort behind the execution, and because of that we had a big win.’ Heading into tonight’s game, quite frankly I had no idea how the Lakers would come out. Bynum’s knee was a question mark, and without his presence Gasol has been subjected to an incredible amount of pounding to which he did not respond well on Sunday. Artest was a sinkhole offensively and coming off his worst defensive performance of the Finals. Lamar Odom, to steal metaphors from Bryant, belonged on a milk carton.”

Have a link I might want to look at? Send it my way by email (thomasking@celticstown.com) or Twitter

Special thanks to Steve Porter, Lindsay Tillis, and Jacqueline Kauffman for making this interview happen.

DJ Steve Porter

You grew up in Western Massachusetts in the 1980′s.  You love basketball—even had a half-court in your backyard as a kid. Naturally, you fell in love with the Boston Celtics. You grew older on a healthy diet of Larry Bird, trophies, banners, parades, and the nutritious hatred of Magic Johnson and all things Laker.

You played basketball until you realized you’d never be able to dunk. Never be Larry Bird. Never be Kevin McHale.

Now, the Boston Celtics are playing the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals, and the last commercial you made in collaboration with the NBA marketing division is set to air.

Welcome to the life of Steve Porter,31, a DJ and producer who grew up in Amherst, MA, just 95 miles west of the TD Garden.

MUSICAL GROWTH

Steve began producing when he was 16, in his dorm room at Williston-Northampton School—a boarding school in Easthampton, MA.  While his friends studied, played sports, and hung out, Porter spent most of his days on his computer, downloading production software and creating innovative electronic dance music.

“I started tinkering around with software that I could find off the internet back in 1996,” Porter said. “I was downloading stuff off of dial-up.”

Porter practiced his DJ’ing at all school events, even his Senior Prom. After graduating from Williston, Porter decided to forego college and, instead, pursue a musical career. Porter quickly hooked up with a local record store, The Grow Room—open from 1997-2004—jumpstarting his life as a DJ.

“It was all about hard work,” Porter said. “I produced music like a madman–I still do.”

Porter’s popularity steadily rose, and he began DJ’ing in Boston and New York. In 2002, Porter began a global tour, DJ’ing around the world until 2009, when he began working with the NBA’s marketing division, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners.

Porter may have travelled across Europe, Asia, and Australia but, to him, there is not a place in the world like the TD Garden at capacity crowd.

“The TD Garden is just hyped. It’s about the fans, it’s about the fun, it’s about the sound–non-stop.”

But what about the Staples Center, where Porter attended Game 1 of the NBA Finals?

“[The game] was amazing,” Porter said. “I just felt priveliged to be there.”

“I will say though, that the experience at the Staples Center doesn’t come close to what you get at the TD Garden. It’s more of a sitting crowd. I felt like I was in a stuffy hotel.”

VIDEO REMIX BEGINNINGS

Though Porter’s NBA commercials are a hit, his role in television advertising came about almost completely by accident. Porter created a new type of video remixing which exploded in popularity on Youtube. In his spare time, Porter would take a video, cut and splice the audio, rearranging the dialogue  to match up with his own musical composition.

Video remixing became an internet sensation with Porter’s creation of Rap Chop, a remix of the Slap Chop infomercial which advertises a blade that dices, chops, and minces fruits, vegetables, nuts, etc. in a matter of seconds. The rap-like video remix has generated more than 10 million views on Youtube and became so popular that it was used as the real Slap Chop infomercial.

“It was probably the third or fourth video I uploaded,” Porter said. “I was really, honestly, just experimenting and I had no idea that  I was doing something I was good at.”

But Rap Chop was just the beginning of video remixing for Porter. Soon after, he created a video called Press Hop, which featured Allen Iverson’s infamous “We talkin’ bout practice” press conference and other sports hysteria. This video remix has been viewed more than  2.5 million times and has received attention from the NFL, NBA, and network television.

“Press Hop seems to be everybody’s favorite,” Porter said. “That video kind of started it all. The whole NBA campaign was anchored around the genesis of that video.”

Since the Youtube release of Press Hop, Porter has done video remixing for the NFL, Showtime, NBC’s sitcom, Community, and ABC’s sitcom, Cougartown.

NBA VIDEO REMIX COMMERCIALS

In September 2009, the NBA contracted Porter to compile 15 video remixes, the first airing November 3, 2009, and the last one airing this week during the NBA Finals. Porter’s NBA commercials have been a huge hit and a viral sensation—uploaded and viewed countless times on the internet.

Porter recently finished the last two installments, which will air during the NBA Finals. Both of the commercials are 60-second remixes of earlier installments. One of the commercials will remix the Amazing is the Dream spot, which focused on the legends of basketball.

“It’s a real tearjerker,” Porter said. ”It’s the kind of spot that will have grandpa snapping his fingers and crying a little bit.”

The final commercial will be all about the Celtics-Lakers rivalry.

“We tweaked the teamwork commercial,”Porter said,”the one with Magic Johnson saying,’we gotta get back-into-our-game.’ It’s a 60-second version of that, and it’s all Lakers- Celtics. It’s really cool.”

After 10 months of exhausting work on the NBA project, Porter’s is excited to prepare for a tour of Asia in July, followed by Lolapalooza– an eight stage music festival in Grant Park in Chicago– from August 6-8.

“The NBA project was the biggest undertaking of my entire career,” Porter said. “It’s been exhausting– it’s taken all the creative energy I have. I put everything I have into this project.”

Imagine that: the man behind the NBA’s newest commercials, the man who has been making music since he was 16, the man who travelled around the world DJ’ing, has finally lost his energy.

Somehow, I don’t believe Mr. Porter. I think one more Celtics win, or another creative challenge, and all that energy will come flooding back.

And he may need it soon. Because there could be a party in Boston.

Who better to DJ?

Kobe Bryant tried to beat the Boston Celtics by himself Sunday night in Game 5 at the TD Garden, but he–and the rest of the Los Angeles Lakers– failed the task.

Bryant scored 38 points but Pau Gasol (12 points) was the only other Laker in double-figures, and the Celtics pulled ahead 3-2 in the series with a convincing 92-86 win.

With the NBA Finals tied at two games each, The Big Three emerged from a collective Finals-slumber, combining for 57 points on 23-42 shooting. Paul Pierce spearheaded the Celtics effort with 27 points, including 11 points in the pivotal third quarter in which he squared off with a sizzling Bryant. Bryant scored 19 of the Lakers 26 points in the third quarter–making seven of his nine shots–but Boston somehow extended their halftime lead of six points to eight heading into the fourth quarter.

In the first half, Boston set a great pace offensively, resulting in defensive switches and easy hoops. Pierce had 15 points on 7-10 shooting, the Celtics shot 58% for the half, and Kobe was just 4-12. Yet, the Celtics lead by only six points, 45-39. Los Angeles hung around in the first half because they had eight offensive rebounds and Boston committed 11 turnovers.

With 4:55 left in the second quarter, Kevin Garnett went up for a transition layup and was fouled hard by Ron Artest. Rajon Rondo came to Garnett’s defense by shoving Artest, which quickly earned Rondo a technical foul. The technical seemed to refocus the team, which began playing with more effort and intensity.

Pierce went on a scoring barrage to finish the second quarter and on into the third. Considering the stakes, Garnett played perhaps his best game of the post-season, with 18 points, 10 rebounds, and five steals. Garnett once again attacked Pau Gasol in the painted area, earning himself short buckets and multiple trips to the free throw line. Rondo added 18 points, eight assists, and five rebounds, but he also committed 7 turnovers.

Like Pierce, Bryant was also feeling the summer heat in the third quarter–and admittedly hit some world-class leaners– but it came at the expense of his teammates. Bryant wanted the ball on every possession, and he could be seen verbally assaulting other Lakers who dared to shoot. Bryant reamed out poor Luke Walton for a drive that created a wide-open three-pointer for Derek Fisher.

Because Kobe took so many shots,27, the rest of the Lakers were inactive both offensively and defensively.The Celtics outscored the Lakers 46-32 in points in the paint, and shot over 56% for the game. Pau Gasol never established himself in the post and took only 12 shots in 38 minutes of action. Ron Artest and Fisher were both 2-9 from the floor, while Artest was nothing but an orange drill-cone for the elusive Pierce most of the game.

The Boston Celtics lead most of the game, but, in the fourth quarter, the Lakers cut the lead to five after Ray Allen fouled Bryant on a three-pointer and he made all three free throws. With about 45 seconds left, Kevin Garnett and Derek Fisher were in a jump ball on the Celtics offensive end. Fisher quick-jumped Joey Crawford’s toss and stole the tip, which ended up in the hands of a streaking Artest. Pierce fouled Artest, who missed both free throws.

After Artest missed the pair, Pierce rebounded the ball and Boston called timeout. On the ensuing inbounds play, Garnett threw a high-arching pass to a sprinting Pierce, who caught the ball and passed it to Rondo for a layup–all in a matter of seconds. Rondo’s layup gave the Celtics a seven point lead with 35 seconds to go, and put the finishing touches on the Game 5 win.

After scoring 11 fourth quarter points, 16 for the game, Derek Fisher cried in his post-game interview with Doris Burke.

Why the hell was he crying?

No one but Derek Fisher seems to know. He had played his best game of the playoffs and his team had won. He has won 4 NBA titles and made crucial plays, crucial shots before. So why was he so emotional after this particular win, this particular clutch performance?

I don’t know and I don’t care–there should be no crying in basketball unless your season or career has just ended. If the Lakers and Fisher win the 2010 NBA Finals, Fish can cry all he wants, he’ll have earned the right to celebrate the season however he sees fit. But crying in the middle of the NBA Finals because you helped your team win a close game? Unacceptable.

I thought I disliked Fisher before tonight–he just seems like a complete phony. But after tonight, I thoroughly dislike–maybe even hate– Derek Fisher. Not only did he just destroy my team’s chance of going up 2-1, but he cried about it like a baby afterward. Give me a break. Pau Gasol is supposed to be the one crying on the Lakers.

The Celtics may have lost 91-84 Tuesday night at the TD Garden, but the Garden fans played their part perfectly.

I don't know if Lamar Odom was scared by these masks, but they make Khloe look like the spawn of Satan.

Thirty minutes before tip-off, the Garden was rocking and the crowd’s excitement was building. 5,000 Khloe Kardashian masks had been passed out to fans to rattle Laker forward Lamar Odom, who married Kardashian earlier this season. According to Evan Brunell of NESN,”the Lakers forward had previously worried about bringing Kardashian into the TD Garden, wondering how she would be received.”

Apparently, she was well-received by the 5,000 fans who donned her mask and taunted Odom. Fans also brought degrading signs, including one funny sign that compared Laker center Pau Gasol to a llama.

Check out the sign on the right. Gasol really DOES look like that llama.

When the ball was tipped, a surging wave of energy overtook the frenzied crowd, and the Celtics rode that wave to an early 12-5 edge. The crowd was frenzied, frenetic, and fantastic from tip to horn, but, unfortunately, the Boston Celtics could only siphon off so much energy from the crowd.

A crowd cannot make shots for you, or defend the Fisher-Kobe pick-and-roll. But a crowd can provide a team a boost like a pile of cocaine for Tony Montana before he faces Sosa’s men in Scarface. If you haven’t seen Scarface, believe me, that’s one hell of a boost.

And after returning from LA, where celebrities and wannabes ruled the Staples Center, it was as refreshing as a cold Budweiser on a humid summer day to return to the raucous rank and file of the TD Garden. I’m hurt and mildly upset by the Game 3 loss, but I have hope for the series, and much of that hope rests in the group at the Garden.

I have faith that Games 4 and 5 will fill the Garden with faithful fans. I have faith that the Celtics will–like they have done so many times in the past– use the crowd as a springboard to success. I have faith that home court advantage will surface and propel the Celtics to wins in both Games 4 and 5.