Announcers for NBA Finals know that every comment will be dissected

MIAMI — If the adage is correct that the NBA season is a marathon, not a sprint, then the NBA playoffs are a balancing act, at least for those calling the action.
Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson know the drill. They know that while some might describe their perches for Tuesday night's Game 1 of the NBA Finals as courtside seats, a better description might be hot seats. Nearly everything coming out of their mouths during this series will be dissected by fans.
Say anything negative about the hometown Heat and it means they're rooting for the Dallas Mavericks.
Say anything negative about the Mavericks and it means they're obviously for the Miami Heat.
"It's amazing," said Breen, the play-by-play man for the ABC/ESPN crew. "We'll go into an NBA Finals and just for example, last year, we'll go into Boston and the Celtic fans will say, 'Boy, it's clear you guys are rooting for the Lakers. And then the series will shift to L.A. and the Laker fans will say, 'Boy, it's obvious you guys are rooting for the Celtics.' "
During the Eastern Conference finals, Heat fans were so worked up over TNT's Charles Barkley that he threatened to "come down there" to straighten out one towel-tossing fan.
For the next game, TNT moved its studio from outside the AmericanAirlines Arena to a more secure location inside the building.
Some might claim Barkley asked for it by calling the Heat "a whiny bunch," but network announcers know that at this stage of the post-season, emotions are so high that even innocent comments are over-analyzed. With a bemused look, NBC's Bob Costas said never in his career has a fan approached him with compliments for the remarkable way he was calling a game right down the middle.
Why is it especially an issue during the playoffs? First, most games are broadcast using national announcers as opposed to those hired by the clubs for the regular season.
Second, if an announcer rubs a fan the wrong way during the regular season, that might be the last time the fan hears that announcer for months. During the NBA Finals, it's possible that Breen, Van Gundy or Jackson could irritate a fan for seven consecutive games - if they haven't already done it during three prior rounds.
"When you hear from each city that you're biased, that means you're doing the perfect job," said Mike Tirico, play-by-plan man for this series on ESPN Radio and the voice of Monday Night Football.
Jackson added, "Our job is to tell a story. And basically, if you're playing bad, we're going to talk about that and I think it comes off to a true fan like you're disliking their team."
Make a mistake in the regular season and the worst that often happens is it's replayed on SportsCenter for a day. Not so now.
"In the playoffs, you're really focused on individual plays," Breen said, "so I think overall broadcasts are more critical in the playoffs in terms of what a team is doing, what a certain player is doing, and I think that's part of why sometimes the fans might be a little more sensitive, because also, their emotions are running high."
Announcers agree that the only rooting they do during games is for a good game.
"We put so much into a broadcast, my goal is the ball is in the air, the clock says zero, and wherever it comes down determines the outcome of the game," Tirico said.
So before Heat fans or Mavs fans accuse him otherwise, Tirico figured he might as well set the record straight.
"I couldn't care less who wins," he said.