- Ronald Martinez/Getty Images North America
- The Thunder’s Reggie Jackson and the Clippers’ Matt Barnes
Is justice procedural, or is it defined strictly by the results? If an innocent man is mistakenly convicted of murder after a fair trial, has justice been done? Many an appellate judge will say it has. Form was followed, and what more can be asked of any fallible institution?
The announcers were saying, so what? They made sure we understood the rules: the out-of-bounds calls could be reviewed and reversed; the foul noncalls could not.
I’d like to think Rivers was right. Watching the two games, both times I crossed my fingers hoping the refs would stand their ground. If they’d called the plays right to begin with, Jackson and Pierce would have gone to the line. Giving their teams the ball was a clear second best, but it sure beat the alternative: rewarding the teams that whacked Jackson and Pierce to make them cough up the ball.
