NBA scoring has been down significantly since the All-Star break with teams averaging 111.7 points and 19.9 free throws compared to 115.5 points and 22.7 free throws before.
The NBA had received criticism about the explosion of offense and there is now a widespread belief that referees were asked to call the game differently.
An NBA spokesman, however, told Marc Stein that “there has been no directive from the league office to referees to call games differently.”
