Okay, "blasts" might be too strong, but Doc spoke his mind about the atrocious officiating in the series so far:
"It's huge," Rivers said. "We've had all three games where one of our quote-unquote Big Three has not been able to play.
"Last night, Paul was never in his rhythm. He couldn't be. He played for four minutes, he was back on the bench, played for five minutes. I mean, I played Paul at times last night when I should not have had him on the floor with four fouls, but I had no choice. You've got to get him on the floor at some point.
"But it clearly -- you know, we watched film today, and I showed Paul, it's funny. I said 'Paul, that's a driving lane. You've got to get to the basket.' His response was: 'I was worried about getting another foul.' It's tough to play that way."
"I think it was a ton of moving screens they got away with," Rivers said the day after the Celtics' 91-84 loss to the Lakers in Game 3 put the Celtics behind 2-1 in the best-of-7 series. "As far as off-the-ball action ... you are not allowed to hold, you are not allowed to bump, and you are not allowed to impede progress. I read that this morning, and I'm positive of it. So, you know, when that happens it has to be called."
Rivers said he had sent a tape to the league office documenting several instances in which the Lakers were not called for moving screen violations, a type of offensive foul. By his count, the Celtics were called for one such violation and the Lakers none. . . .
Rivers also continued to sound incredulous that Lakers coach Phil Jackson had complained about the foul calls against Kobe Bryant in Game 2 (Jackson called them "unusual fouls") when Bryant racked up five personals, noting that foul trouble had impacted his own team much more than it had the Lakers.
"I think he [Phil Jackson] is good, I think we're all pretty good at it," Rivers said. "But listen, if Phil Jackson says something the day before and it happens, I hope that has nothing to do with the officials."
"I think what we all want is just consistency. It's tough to get that, but I think that's what everybody wants."
Amen, Doc.