well this, sure there has been lots mentioned on it so I will stop.
Researchers' NBA officiating study detects biases, but not necessarily the ones fans suspect 2009 NBA Playoffs | Schedules, news, scores, standings and more – OregonLive.com
"The researchers found that each type of favoritism -- home, trailing in a game and trailing in a series -- resulted in a 5 to 10 percent advantage in "discretionary" turnovers, or ones over which referees have the most influence. The researchers do not attempt to explain what the percentages could mean in actual wins and losses.
Still, the study concludes that the detected referee biases, though probably unintentional, could increase the league's revenues through additional ticket sales and television appearances by reducing the number of blowout games and making televised games more compelling. "
but like I said overall I agree with this-----
"An academic study of NBA officiating found little to no evidence that referees favor teams from large media markets in the playoffs, a favorite conspiracy theory of skeptical fans."