Claim: Dick Bavetta told the ref crew to favor the Spurs because they needed the win to win the division ('Personal Foul', page 101 - also here).
For Claim: According to the box score, the Spurs had a huge FT advantage (53-18) and foul advantage (34-23). The Associated Press account said "The Spurs scored 16 of their 32 first-half points against the Nuggets from the line, keeping them in the game" and "who finished with a season-high 53 free throws".
Against: The Spurs were a far better team. The Denver coach said “They had 53 free-throw attempts and I felt a lot of those were a result of our defensive mistakes.” According to the game thread on Nuggets Talk, Denver had nothing to play for and may not have been that motivated. No comments on the refs in that thread but then again it was one of those games that the fans didn't care about.
Effect: In the end nothing. The Spurs still would have had the 3th seed and the Nuggets the 8th.
Accuracy: Maybe. Will reassess if someone can find me video especially of the 1st quarter.
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