OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) 鈥� Lakers coach JJ Redick criticized the way LeBron James is officiated and guard Austin Reaves complained about treatment from the referees after on Thursday night.
A number of Lakers players gathered around the referees at midcourt after the game and Reaves voiced his frustration to crew chief John Goble. He felt that while players were jockeying for position during a jump ball during the game, Goble crossed the line.
鈥淎t the end of the day, we鈥檙e grown men and I just didn鈥檛 feel like he needed to yell in my face like that,鈥� Reaves said. 鈥淚 told him that. I wasn鈥檛 disrespectful. I told him if I did that to him first, I would鈥檝e gotten a tech. I feel like the only reason I didn鈥檛 get a tech was because he knew he was in the wrong. I felt disrespected.鈥�
Reaves, Marcus Smart and Jaxson Hayes all finished with five fouls. The Thunder took 26 free throws to 21 for the Lakers. The loss sends Los Angeles home facing a 2-0 deficit heading into Game 3 on Saturday.
Redick doesn’t think a team with the No. 1 seed and the reigning MVP in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander needs extra help from the officials.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e hard enough to play,” Redick said. “They鈥檙e hard to play, and you鈥檝e got to be able to just call them. They foul. They do foul.鈥�
James, still effective at attacking the rim at age 41, has attempted just five throws in two games in the series.
鈥淟eBron has the worst whistle of any star player I’ve ever seen. The smaller guys, because they can be theatric, they typically draw more fouls, and the bigger players that are built like LeBron, it鈥檚 hard for them,鈥� Redick said. 鈥淭hey get clobbered, and he got clobbered again tonight a bunch.鈥�
On several occasions, Lakers players were incredulous after calls 鈥� or no-calls 鈥� from the crew. While the Lakers talked to the officials during and after the game, the Thunder players stayed calm. Redick believes that might have helped them.
鈥淚 think some of the reason that they鈥檙e officiated the way they are is because they don鈥檛 show emotion,鈥� Redick said. “And that鈥檚 a credit to them. I mean, they really take the emotion out of the game. They鈥檙e super tight-knit. They don鈥檛 complain to the officials, and maybe they鈥檙e the beneficiaries of that, I don鈥檛 know.鈥�
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