Well not exactly. That is the headline of a story that appears on the Boston Globe web-site:

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/articles/2009/01/01/nba_admits_referee_mistake/

Here is what I posted on the site in response to the story:

"This is hilarious. Apparently people in Boston don't understand math or the English language.

QUOTE
NBA Admits Referee Mistake
"While the NBA's head of officials admitted that an "unfortunate incident" affected the Celtics' 91-86 loss at Portland Tuesday, the game's result will not be changed."
END QUOTE

First to the math -- How could the result of a five point loss be reversed due to a play that only cost Celtics two points?

Now to the English language -- The contents of this article contradict the headline and the very basis of the story. According to the article, the NBA did not admit any mistake. They said, "the play was administered properly by our crew."

Yes it was an "unfortunate incident" for the Celtics, and maybe the rule should be changed in the off-season, maybe not.

What a joke of an "article".

Rip City "

I felt so strongly about this that I e-mailed Marc Spears the author of the article and copied my post into the e-mail. He was nice enough to respond to my e-mail (which I respect very much) and here's what he wrote:

"I don't write the headlines. Happy new year. Celtics believe mistake ruined momentum they had going.

Sent from my BlackBerry wireless handheld."

He makes a decent point that he doesn't write the headlines, but some Bostonian did, and the thesis of the article is pretty clear even without the headline. I still maintain it is an article in search of a story.

Here is a link to the Boston Globe article about the game, written by Spears in which Doc Rivers admits that his players let that call affect them for the resto of the game:

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2008/12/31/blazers_rattle_celtics/

Here is what I posted in response to that article:

What is the point of all the whining about that one call? It only netted the Blazers one point, and the Celtics lost the game by five. Rivers admitted that the one call took the players out of the game, and yet they were still whining about it after the game, eventhough it didn't even affect the outcome. This is the mentally tough Championship team?

I used to root for Garnett, but now it has become clear to everyone around the league that he is a punk player. The way he tried to slap around LaMarcus Aldridge was one small example. Some players mature and mellow after winning a Ring, Garnett has done the opposite, and that doesn't say much about his character.

Do Boston fans realize that Garnett's antics are quickly making him the biggest joke around the NBA? He acts like a tough guy when everybody knows he's probably never been in a real fight in his life. He was reportedly staring down Blazer players as they walked through the tunnel at the end of the game - what a joke. He knows he's protected by the rules of the NBA and by the law. I'd love to see him in a parking lot in the middle of nowhere with either Joel Pryzbilla or Greg Oden.

As a Blazer fan, I look forward to the next few years when the Blazers have Pryzbilla (The Vanilla Gorilla) and big Greg to keep Garnett's mouth shut.