Pacers vs Heat - Game 5 (Video Request)

[JRutledge]

Unless you know he did not say something or words were not exchanged on any level, you have no idea why there was or would not have been given. They clearly had words. He did not walk away and at least in my experience at levels lower than the NBA, it is completely warranted to give a T for a player that has words and approaches a player no matter what they did to them. It is no different then if a guy pops off and then he is punched. Well in the NF rules for sure that is considered fighting for saying something that instigates a fight. This was not quite a fight, but I am not saying Tyler H is innocent. And the officials was there to know what was said or not said on some level.

And unless someone can find me a rule that says how far they step towards or when it acceptable to get in the face of an opponent, then it is up to the official on the floor to determine what is over the top. This is why we get paid the big bucks (and certainly an NBA official) to make those decisions.

Peace