Hot News: ESPN likely caused shot clock outage during Raptors playoff game; Toronto ...

Perhaps Toronto Raptors fans will think twice about desiring television coverage in the United States from now on.

The Raptors said that someone from outside of the organization trying to fix an electrical problem caused the game clocks and shot clocks to go out during Game 1. There is a strong suspicion that it was a member of the ESPN crew that made the mistake, which resulted in the Raptors and Brooklyn Nets playing the final 18 minutes of the game with public address announcer Herbie Kuhn counting down the shot clock.

The Raptors, as has been often the case, did not have a game on ESPN or TNT this year.

'That shot clock did throw me off,' Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan said. 'I didn't think we were going to get no calls [from the officials], but it wasn't called too differently. [It was] just the shot clock that threw me off.'

Of course, that does not explain why both the normal clocks and the backup clocks were reliant on the same signal path.

** DeRozan made reference to the officials, and it was clear that the Raptors were not pleased with the officiating. Nobody from Toronto was blaming the referees for the loss. Surely, though, that the referees could not find a single foul to call on the Nets in the fourth quarter irked Toronto.

'I thought some of the fouls we got called for frustrated a lot of our guys,' Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. 'And looking at the film, they should have [been frustrated].'

That is about as critical as Casey has ever been of the officials during his tenure as a Raptors coach.

** Joe Johnson and Deron Williams led the Nets with 24 points in Game 1. Williams really hurt the Raptors, exploiting Toronto's perimeter defence, which has to be better. However, Johnson was not a surprise.

Johnson, listed at 240 pounds, is very big for a swingman. Terrence Ross and DeRozan are both far slimmer than him. If Johnson effectively uses a screen, they can easily get stuck trailing him, something that frequently happened on Saturday.

'You have got to understand: Joe is 260 [pounds] or whatever he may be,' DeRozan said. 'Once you get behind him, it's tough to get back in front of him. He uses his body well and he's a strong 2-guard.'

So, basically: He has a big backside and he uses it effectively?

'Yeah. Yeah.'

Post By http://sports.nationalpost.com/2014/04/20/espn-likely-caused-shot-clock-outage-during-raptors-playoff-game-toronto-miffed-at-refs/