Williams did not directly claim any foul play on the Warriors' part. Their fans, I've talked about it for years, they have some of the best fans in the league." For the competition committee, there's got to be something to that. "I'm not so sure the decibel level is legal, and I'm serious," Williams said. Speaking before the Pelicans' morning shootaround ahead of Monday's Game 2, Williams complimented the Warriors' home crowd but suggested that the volume has gotten excessive. Now, you're not going to believe this, but Williams' questioning of the legality of the decibel level inside Oracle met with some derision.SAN FRANCISCO - After their Game 1 loss, New Orleans Pelicans coach Monty Williams suggested that the crowd noise at Oracle Arena, home of the Golden State Warriors, may not be within the league rules. which makes sense, of course, because how would you govern that moreover, why would you ever want to? There haven't been any reported complaints in the way of P.A.-related noise issues about Oracle Arena. ET, 4/20/15): The NBA's constitution and bylaws afford the commissioner the right "to establish minimum standards for the conditions under which NBA basketball games and events are conducted, and to regulate the in-arena presentation of those games and events." As noted by Cinesport's Noah Coslov, the NBA has established game-presentation rules related to the decibel levels of public-address systems in arenas, but nothing specifically related to fan noise. Let us know if that works out for you, Monty. I guess Williams could always try calling the local police and registering a noise complaint.
The only item I can find that refers to volume or noise in any way notes that players are barred from "talking to the free throw shooter or taking in a loud disruptive manner during any free throw attempt." This ain't that, so, y'know, the Warriors seem to be in the clear. There doesn't seem to be any similar restrictions in the NBA's rulebook, though. The Atlanta Falcons just ran afoul of them, with a league investigation into allegations of piped-in cheering at the Georgia Dome costing them a 2016 fifth-round pick, earning the organization a $350,000 fine and team president Rich McKay a suspension from the NFL's competition committee. There are rules against pumping in fake crowd noise in the NFL. especially when their favorite teams visit them during road trips. Washington Wizards play-by-play man Steve Buckhantz levied the same accusation at the Miami Heat back at the start of this season, claiming that the game operations staff at AmericanAirlines Arena had "gone to the canned crowd noise." Both the Celtics and Wizards denied doing so, but that doesn't mean fans won't continue to wonder and call B.S. TNT's Marv Albert claimed that the Boston Celtics had artificially pumped up the volume inside TD Garden during a nationally televised January 2013 loss to the New York Knicks.
While Monty might not have insinuated the Dubs are doing anything shady, there have been other accusations of teams pumping in crowd noise to rattle the opposition. So much going on, it was so loud I couldn't hear my teammates, my coaches." It definitely seemed to have an effect in Game 1, as Pelicans All-Star Davis noted the roar of Oracle as a contributing factor in New Orleans' slow start during a 13-point first quarter: "My first playoff experience, it was pretty hectic. But while Pelicans coach Monty Williams might not have been surprised by it, he sure doesn't seem to have appreciated the din, according to 's Tom Haberstroh: That's nothing new for the crowd at Oracle, long celebrated for providing one of the loudest and most raucous home-court advantages in the NBA.
As you might expect, the Oracle Arena faithful were in full throat, "a gold shirt-wearing sellout crowd of 19,596 that rocked and roared most of the afternoon," according to Antonio Gonzalez of The Associated Press. 1-seeded Dubs exploded out of the gate, rolling up a 10-point lead just eight minutes into the game and leading by as many as 25 late in the third quarter. There were some tense moments late, thanks in large part to a 20-point fourth-quarter explosion by superstar Anthony Davis, but for the most part, the Golden State Warriors ably handled the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday in Game 1 of the two teams' opening-round playoff series.