Illawarra coach Justin Tatum believes the referees "100 per cent" changed the way they officiated down the stretch as his side snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in a 115-106 overtime loss to Melbourne in game one of their best-of-three play-off series.
The Hawks appeared impregnably placed, up 93-77 inside the last seven minutes of the fourth quarter at John Cain Arena on Thursday, before United unleashed a 38-13 rampage through the remainder of regulation and extra time.
Tatum acknowledged Melbourne's superiority in the clutch but felt Illawarra copped a raw deal from the officials late in the match.
"Them being at home, turning up that tempo a little bit, that pressure and their experience ... they got away from us," he said.
"Also other people have got to do their job and call the obvious things and don't let them play into their hands.
"We were fighting other things out there as well."
Tatum identified two crucial no-calls at his team's expense inside the last 20 seconds of regulation.
United centre Jo Lual-Acuil went unwhistled with 18.8 seconds on the clock despite hanging off Gary Clark as the Hawks import was preparing to receive a long pass from Kyle Adnam.
Then, with 15.4 seconds left and Illawarra still up by two, American guard Justin Robinson was wrestled aside by Matthew Dellavedova, who duly picked off Adnam's inbound, resulting in Chris Goulding's game-tying layup.
When asked if the officiating changed in the fourth quarter, Tatum was unequivocal.
"One hundred per cent," he said.
"I don't know what they're reviewing when JLA and Gary are getting mixed up on the long inbound pass.
"You could see a whole arm (of Lual Acuil) wrapped around him (Clark).
"Also when we're trying to get the ball inbounds, J-Rob gets grabbed in the corner by Dellavedova.
"It's play-offs and I thought we had the best officiating on the crew - that's what we were supposed to have and were told."
Melbourne coach Dean Vickerman disagreed, pointing to the below-average total foul count (35) being normal for finals and the balanced ledger (18-17).
"No," he answered.
"That's a good play-off number.
"You're letting a few things go at that number.
"You're letting people play, you're letting the players decide the game."
