In case you missed it, yet another referee blunder changed the outcome of a playoff game on Saturday night. The Dallas Mavericks were up two with a foul to give as Denver Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony worked to get a shot off in the final seconds of the fourth quarter of Game 3 of the Western Conference Semifinals. Mavericks guard Antoine Wright waited until there were, perhaps, two seconds left on the game clock before committing an obvious, intentional foul right in front of a nearby referee. Carmelo took and made a three after the foul . . .which was never called.

"What do you want me to do?" Wright asked after the game. "Do you want me to Derek Fisher him, just take him out, and then I get a flagrant foul late in the game? I can't blatantly run through the guy, I have to try to make a play on the ball and that's what I felt like I did. I didn't want to jeopardize my team in any way by making a foolish foul."

The Mavericks, from owner Mark Cuban to multiple players and trainers, were livid, verbally chastising the refs, and Josh Howard even had to be forcefully removed from the court by teammates. Instead of being down 1-2 with another home game ahead, they find themselves down 0-3 and facing almost certain elimination.

Strangely, the NBA issued the following statement regarding the event:

NEW  YORK,  May 9, 2009 – Joel Litvin, NBA President, League and Basketball Operations,  issued  the following statement regarding the final seconds of Game  3 of the Western Conference Semifinals between the Denver Nuggets and the Dallas Mavericks:

"At the end of the Dallas-Denver game this evening, the officials missed an intentional foul committed by Antoine Wright on Carmelo Anthony, just prior to Anthony's three-point basket."

That's it . . .that's the statement.

First of all, it contained absolutely nothing we didn't already know. The Nuggets knew it, the Mavericks knew it, the ESPN announcers could talk about nothing else post-game. It will be all anyone will talk about for the next few hours, and it will add fuel to the already-raging fire surrounding the plethora of blown calls and even worse assignments of flagrant fouls, fines, and suspensions. No one got punched, lost teeth, or needed stitches in this case, but it was certainly a devastating upper-cut to the playoff hopes of the Mavericks.

But why the statement?

Frankly, it reads like there's a paragraph missing. The statement should go on to say the two teams will replay the final 0:00:01 of Game 3 just prior to the beginning of Game 4. Personal foul Antoine Wright, ball out of bounds to Denver. But it didn't say that, and frankly, the existence of any statement that doesn't include resolution to such an obvious wrong will only serve to further anger NBA fans.

Chalk this up as yet another example of referee incompetence . . .and the NBA's complete inability to take corrective action.