The only time Gilbert thought twice about Donaghy was after a game at Denver last December 18. The was the night after Gilbert dropped 60 in a win over the Lakers in Los Angeles. The thing I remember about that night was speaking with Gilbert before the game and him commenting that he didn't think he'd be getting any calls after going to the free throw line 27 times the night before.
As you may remember, both Phil Jackson and Kobe Bryant made a point of discussing Gil's free throw attempts when asked about his historic 60. It was Gil's belief that their quotes along with the box score from that game would influence the refs working the Wiz/Nuggets game.
The Nuggets played without Carmelo Anthony and JR Smith that night and the Wizards went into the game favored by three. The over/under was 212.5. The Wiz came out sluggish and Denver built a 30-point second quarter lead but the Wiz made a big second half run and drew within 93-91 with 5:36 to play. [At this point the teams are on pace to score a combined 208 points, just below the over/under]
While Arenas didn't attempt a single free throw that night (he did throw up 12 three-point attempts), the Nuggets went to the line 28 times in the fourth quarter alone and iced a 117-108 win. [Comfortably above the over/under] According to the game's play by play at www.nba.com, 21 of Denver's fourth quarter free throw attempts came AFTER the Wiz cut the lead to 93-91. Interesting. Donaghy worked that game along with Leroy Richardson and Derrick Stafford.
"We were making a comeback but then they just started calling fouls and sending them to the line," Arenas said. "I was like, OK, I guess we ain't winning this game. Other than that game, I never really thought about the guy. He was just another ref to me. Then again, if he was cheating, he probably would try to blend in as much as possible."
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