Are the Referees to Blame for the Miami Heat's Two Losses in Charlotte?

Here’s a fact: The Miami Heat has not won a playoff game since Prince died. Think about it.

Here’s another fact: The officiating in the Heat’s first-round series against the Charlotte Hornets has been decisively skewed toward the Hornets in a series that is now tied at 2-2.

Coincidence?

That’s the $64,000 question. The numbers certainly show that the refs seem to clam up when it comes to the Heat but make sweet, sweet love to their whistles when it comes to the Hornets.

And Mrs. Dwyane Wade seems to be among the perturbed with all of these foul calls against Miami.

Again... Reggie Jackson is onto something #FineEm

— Gabrielle Union (@itsgabrielleu) April 26, 2016

Here are more facts.

The first two games of this series had the Heat using Charlotte’s collective ball sack as a speed bag, hitting shots at a historical clip and giving us all reason to book a one-way ticket to Cocky Heat Fanville. In the two home games, Miami's offense resembled a mighty well-oiled warrior, wielding a sword of fire. Yet on the road, the offense has resembled an old man in full dry-heave.

This has undoubtedly led Heat fans to walk around all day today like:
Heading into Charlotte, all the Heat had to do was show just a portion of the kind of ass-drilling we saw in the first two games of this series, to take at least one game on the road. Instead, the team gave us a colossal choke job in Game 3 and then gave us a heaping serving of ass tacos in Game 4 — a game in which Miami at one point led by as many as 11 points.

So what the hell happened?

Jeremy Lin and Kemba Walker, that’s what. Lin and Walker have been a nards-obliterating duo at home in this series and, thus, have been getting all of the calls from the refs.

And these seemingly one-sided calls have left Heat fans feeling all:
But before you sling your poop like a monkey at the computer screen, consider this: One of the main reasons the Hornets might be getting so many calls is because the Heat has turned Charlotte into a basket-attacking team while providing no answer to that trend.

The Hornets have been a three-point-shooting team all season. But the Heat decided it wouldn't get torched from the outside and has forced the Hornets to abandon what got of them here and turned them into an inside-the-paint team.

"They’re taking away so many of the things we like to do," Hornets head coach Steve Clifford told the media Monday night following his team's 89-85 Game 4 victory. "They’re making us play differently than what we’ve done most of the year, but we’re doing what we need to do."

The result has been Lin and Walker attacking the basket and forcing the refs to blow the whistle on any contact. The fact that the Heat’s offense went from lightning bolts to old-lady diarrhea has not helped. And then there are the turnovers. These combined problems make for a massive shit sandwich, which the Hornets are taking advantage of in transition.

This  has left desperate Heat fans searching for answers like:
Alas, Heat fans are upset and have pointed out that the same calls that are going Charlotte’s way are not going the Heat’s way. They are using screen caps as evidence and want NBA refs to be thrown into a horse.

@HPbasketball @CBuc32 @ByTimReynolds pic.twitter.com/rRRrSNAHcE

— dylan leeman (@djl_137) April 26, 2016

So are the refs responsible for the Heat blowing a 2-0 series lead and putting the team into a must-win situation this Wednesday?

Maybe.

Or maybe it's Joe Johnson playing like a can of baked ass for the first four games.

Or maybe it's the interior defense allowing Jeremy Lin to look like 2006 Dwyane Wade.

Or maybe it's the Heat shooting itself in the nuts by heaving up 39.5 percent from the field and giving the ball away 17 times (which the Hornets converted into 18 points).

Or maybe it's Dwyane Wade and Goran Dragic playing like piss buckets.

Or maybe it's the defense taking a trident to the penis via Kemba Walker dropping 34 on it.

Or maybe it's the Heat offense going all Hindenburg in the second quarter when the Hornets went on a 23-17 run.

Or maybe it's firing up the Dorell Wright signal and having him commit two quick fouls and bounce the basketball off Luol Deng’s face.
 
Or maybe it's all of those things.

Whatever it is, the Heat needs to get it fixed before the team find its season on the brink.