Ben Anderson: Rudy Gobert on the officials: “It was hard for me to figure out what kind of game they were calling.”
More on Officiating Complaints
Eric Nehm: Today, I asked Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer if the league has given him any guidance on how they plan to call or not call ten-second violations on Giannis Antetokounmpo going forward. "No. I have had no guidance, or no communication with me regarding this." - Budenholzer
RJ Marquez: NBA's Last Two Minute Report notes two incorrect non-calls during Spurs-Grizzlies game: Missed Rudy Gay foul on Valanciunas with 1:27 left in 4Q and score 96-90. Missed Dillon Brooks foul on Jakob after DeRozan miss with 25 secs remaining and score 98-93. #GoSpursGo #NBA
Damian Lillard: A shooting foul gets challenged... then overturned and instead of a jump ball (like every other time this happens ) you give the offensive team the ball back 🤔 Dylan Mickanen: This is what Dame is referring to btw. The call was reversed via a challenge but the NBA ruled Davis had possession so it was Lakers ball rather than a jump ball. LeBron hit a 3-pointer eight seconds later.
Perturbed over what they consider an egregious missed call against center Jarrett Allen late in the fourth quarter of Friday’s 120-105 loss to the Washington Wizards, the Cleveland Cavaliers submitted video and reached out to the league office Saturday morning, expressing their feelings and asking for coach J.B. Bickerstaff’s technical foul to be rescinded, sources tell cleveland.com.
Jason Quick: Norman Powell to @The Athletic on whether he fouled Devin Booker in closing seconds Fri at Phoenix, which led to game-winning FTs: "I hit him a little bit, but you know, I don't think it was enough for the ref ... the ref couldn't see that. He more called Devin Booker's yell."
Kellan Olson: L2M highlights from last night: -- Nurkic didn't foul Saric on the first set of FTs with 1:04 left -- Bridges traveled on his drive off the inbound he got FTs for with 34 secs left -- Powell fouled Booker before he got the ball with 4 secs left -- CJ went backcourt at the end
This is old hat by now for the presumptive MVP. According to the NBA’s Last Two Minute Reports, Jokic has been on the wrong end of a bad call a league-leading 14 times this season. Twice as many as the second-most player.
That said, Jokic has been getting the fuzzy end of the lollipop for a lot longer than just this season. According to @atlhawksfanatic database of Last Two Minute Reports, Jokic has been on the wrong end of more bad calls than anyone else since 2015, which is as far back as the data goes. The chart below shows the players who have been disadvantaged the most from bad calls since the NBA started publicizing the Last Two Minute Reports.
Eric Walden: Jordan Clarkson, on if he got fouled on the layup attempt with 7 seconds to go: "Not necessarily. … I thought the shot before that should have been reviewed."
John Karalis: Griff's Zion comments cost him 50k
Chris Hine: Ant refuted my question earlier when I said the Wolves were getting a little emotional in the 3rd Q. @JaceFrederick followed up with "Who was getting emotional then, Ant?" Ant: "The zebras."
Will Guillory: David Griffin says part of the reason Zion Williamson is injured is bc of the way he's been officiated by the NBA officials this season. Says the way he's been officiated encouraged teams to play more physically against him in the paint.
Scott Kushner: Griff says there is more violence encouraged against Zion than any player since Shaq. Blames the additional contact on the injury
Marc Stein: Technical update: Technical fouls in play-in games, I'm told, will be a completely separate entity. In other words: A play-in game tech does NOT count toward the 16 that force a one-game suspension in the regular season OR the seven in the playoffs that net a one-game suspension
NBA on ESPN: Ja Morant was given a tech and ejected from the game vs. the Knicks. Ja Morant: Send threats then want to give techs lol 😂😅🤡
Doncic's second ejection occurred during a timeout with 31.8 seconds remaining after Kings guard Delon Wright's layup stretched Sacramento's lead to 13 points. Doncic tossed the ball toward the opposite basket, a violation of the rules, although players often take an extra shot after the whistle without incident. "If you get a tech for that, that's ..." Doncic said, pausing and shaking his head. "I don't know."
Brad Townsend: Doncic said he said nothing to the referee. He said he got the second technical, he guesses, because he tossed the basketball away. Doncic says he believes both techs should be rescinded. Says he got the first one by saying "Hell, no."
Neil Dalal: NBA's Last Two Minute Report says the crew of Kevin Scott, Nick Buchert, and Jonathan Sterling called the final two minutes of Wizards-Mavs correctly. Bradley Beal may have his disputes about that, but certainly for the earlier 46 minutes.
Williamson said there's "not much I can do" about not getting calls and that he has to learn from it and finish the shot next time. "I gotta earn my respect," said Williamson, who had 21 points and shot 8-of-17 from the field, only the seventh time this season he has been below .500. "I'm only in Year 2. Gotta get a couple more years under my belt and hopefully things change with that."
Jim Eichenhofer: Stan Van Gundy had an interesting response when he was asked by media if refs are less likely to make a decisive whistle in the final seconds of a game: "I don't know about that (premise), because we fouled Westbrook and Lillard at the end of games and they made the calls."
Eliot Clough: SVG on Zion not getting calls: "He doesn't flop, and he doesn't yell and scream at the referees. He gets to the free throw line a lot. I've had refs say to me 'How many FTs has he shot?' It's a stupid question. ... There's nights he should shoot 20."
After a converted layup by the Raptors, the five-time All-Star was shoved in the back and ran into the stanchion. Official Brandon Schwab tossed the ball to Love so he could inbound it in and an irritated Love spiked the ball with his left hand. Schwab is a G-League official and players expressed irritation with the consistency in calls, sources said. Players from around the league have shared their concerns privately and publicly with the influx of new officials this season.
Dwight Howard feels that his reputation has earned him more than a few technical fouls. On Saturday, the 76ers center was assessed his NBA-leading 15th technical foul. With the next one, he will receive a $5,000 fine and serve a one-game suspension. He received his 15th technical foul in Saturday’s 132-94 loss in Milwaukee. Howard was unavailable for comment after the game, but did discuss the matter following Monday’s 121-90 home win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. “I do feel like I am being targeted, every night,” the 17th-year center said.
“I do feel like I’ve been targeted, but I am just going to continue to play as hard as I can,” he said. “I want the Philly fans to know that I am out there giving 130% every night. The calls might not go my way, I might seem a little frustrated, but I am out there to help this team win a championship.”
Howard understands it is not all the referees’ fault that he has received the 15 technicals. “I have to make sure that I hold myself accountable and do the right things and I hate it, I’ve got this many techs,” he said. “It doesn’t show my character, who I am as a person, a player, so I’ve got to do a better job of that, but a lot of my techs have been just really quick and when I’m on the court, I’m passionate, I want to win.”
Love’s intent wasn’t to slap the ball inbounds, sources said. Love was frustrated with officials and not his team’s performance, sources said. Brandon Schwab is a G-League official and players expressed irritation with the consistency in calls, sources said. Players from around the league have shared their concerns privately and publicly with the influx of new officials this season.
Neil Dalal: Russell Westbrook receives his 14th technical foul on the season from official John Conley and continues to argue his case to other officials into the timeout. He needs to avoid two more technicals over the remaining 11 games of the regular season to avoid a 1-game suspension.
Justin Grasso: Doc Rivers says he doesn’t think Dwight Howard should’ve gotten a tech. Rivers believes he got it because of his reputation. He also says that he only got a tech because he was defending Howard #Sixers
Clutch Points: Jordan Poole celebrates made trey, gets T'd up 🤔 pic.twitter.com/TYldu9VeEC
Law Murray: The NBA L2M report determined that CJ McCollum's foul called by Scott Foster that sent Paul George to the free throw line for the game-winning free throws was an incorrect call. In the spirit of Rasheed Wallace: Both teams were displeased by the officiating last night In
Kellan Olson: L2M report highlights: - Ayton was fouled on the strip where he hurt his shoulder - Bucks did not have possession when they called timeout with 2.5 left - Ayton fouled DiVincenzo on the Bridges 3 in OT - Connaughton should have got a 3-second call on the last possession of OT
Eric Nehm: P.J. Tucker: "It is what is. They made a call. I think in that situation, it's a tough call to make. Tied game, overtime, from all the plays that happened before, how the way the game was being officiated, I think that's a really tough call."
Jim Eichenhofer: Zion on the foul called against him on Westbrook's jumper, leading to game-winning free throws for Wizards: "For the people who know me, it's very tough. The last thing I want to do is fail my teammates. In the moment, that's what it felt like, sending him to the foul line."
JD Shaw: Kings guard De'Aaron Fox has been fined $20,000 for public criticism of the officiating, the league announced today.
Fox seethed over the officiating after the game, saying it was “god-awful” and “f------ terrible.” Fox was frustrated after he was awarded only six free throws while Mitchell went to the free-throw line 17 times. “S--- was god awful,” Fox said. “Mine wasn’t even about me getting there and things like that. It was about the calls they were getting on the other end. If you’re going to call something on one end, call it on the other end.
Wes Goldberg: Steph Curry on the persistent fouling: "I don't know that you can put a headline on 'this is why we're fouling,' we just got to stop doing it."
Connor Letourneau: Steph Curry: "We've just got to be smarter. ... Overall, there's not just a consistent pattern. It's just bad fouling, and we've got to fix it."
Sarah K. Spencer: Trae Young: “The refs, you’ve got to just play. We’re on the road and there’s some obvious ones that I don’t want to get into, it’s over with, the game’s over with now, we’ve just got to move on and not let the officials mess with us and what we’ve got going on.”
Rick Bonnell: Hornets coach James Borrego on the possible Suns goal-tend that was never called: "I thought it was goal-tending. We'll find out." He also mentioned the last-2-minute report from the Heat game showing Hornets were disadvantaged by two missed calls against Miami.
Andrew Greif: Paul George says he has "35,000 reasons" to want to explain why he only shot 3 free throws tonight but he'll keep his thoughts to himself. If you remember, his fine for discussing officiating was $35K.
Duane Rankin: "It's getting ridiculous with these techs. They can't even give you an explanation." Chris Paul as he picked up his 7th technical foul of the season. Monty Williams called Paul a friend, but said Paul drives him "crazy" with the techs. #Suns
Ian Begley: Julius Randle on the foul called on him late in OT that played a significant role Philly's win over NYK: "For them to call that and decide the game is f-----g ridiculous. It's ridiculous. They've got to do a better job. It's too many games like this."
Shams Charania: Raptors coach Nick Nurse has been fined $50,000 by NBA for throwing facemask behind scorer’s table and toward the stands and directing profanity toward official.
Duane Rankin: "That's the 1st time you got ejected?" Chris Paul. Monty Williams made early exit for 1st time as #Suns coach Friday. "If Coach Mont is getting riled up, then it must be something legitimate." Devin Booker. Williams said that had never happened before. "Even as a player?"
Suns (27-13) proceeded to win, 113-101, in the second of a back-to-back before 3,124 fans, but not before Williams made an early exit for the first time as their head coach. "It was crazy to see, but sometimes you got to do things to kind of get your guys into the game a little bit more," Suns guard Cameron Payne said. "So I kind of look at it that way. He kind of gave us some energy cause it's like, we know Coach Mont and for you all to throw him out, it's kind of crazy so we had to group together as a team and find a way to win that game."
Frustrated with what he felt like were missed calls, as he specifically mentioned Booker getting slapped in the face on a postup and Mikal Bridges getting hit on a drive to the rim, Williams addressed referee Scott Twardoski. "If Coach Monty is getting riled up, it must be something legitimate," Booker said. "I don't know what he got thrown out for. He doesn't say a curse word. I don't know what it could've been."
Duane Rankin: Official #NBA explanation from crew chief Kane Fitzgerald on #Suns Monty Williams 1st tech: “During the timeout Monty came out to complain about the officiating and received a warning. He continued to complain after the warning and that’s when he got his first technical foul.”
J. Michael Falgoust: Turner on his flagrant foul last night: "I thought it was a basketball play. .... I just work here." #Pacers
LA Clippers All-Star Paul George, whose frustration has been building this season over not getting foul calls despite drawing contact in the paint, said the NBA has to look into the lack of calls for the Clippers on Wednesday night at the Dallas Mavericks. George said he felt the Clippers physically attacked the rim, only to go to the line 11 times in a 105-89 loss at American Airlines Arena. He said he wants the Clippers to send in video for the league to study. "We're putting a lot of pressure at the rim," George said after the loss. "It's insane that we're not getting these calls. But it is what it is. It's nothing new to me. Hopefully, we'll send a bunch of clips in. League's gotta take a look at this."
When asked to characterize his discussions with officials following non-calls against the Clippers, George said, "Just a bunch of lies." "Can't go too much further than that -- it's a bunch of lies," George said. "They know what's going on."
On a night in which they shot a franchise-record-low-tying five free throws, the Mavericks certainly couldn’t have counted on attacking the Clippers’ interior more aggressively in the closing minutes and getting the benefit of foul calls. Dallas attempted two fourth-quarter free throws. “I’m not going to say anything,” Luka Doncic said when asked about Dallas’ paltry free throw total. “I’m not trying to get fined. That’s how they called it today; hopefully they call better next game.”
All-Star Julius Randle needed to be repeatedly restrained from going after referee Scott Foster following the Knicks’ 117-112 loss to the Nets on Monday at Barclays Center. Randle, who had been called for a traveling violation in the final seconds, had calmed down 40 minutes after the game. “It was a conversation — it’s best I don’t comment on the situation,’’ Randle said. “There was a lot of frustration behind it for both sides. I’ll let it be in the past and move onto the next game.’’
Foster told a pool reporter he stood by his call that Irving did touch the ball but didn’t dislodge it, and Randle came down on his feet with possession. That’s the rule. “It’s an emotional game, he calmed down right away,’’ Thibodeau said. “It was a hard-fought game for both teams. Sometimes it goes your way with whistles, sometimes it doesn’t. I thought Julius played a terrific game. He played the 5, was switching. It didn’t go our way at the end.’’
Neil Dalal: Russell Westbrook and Scott Brooks both wanted a foul call on Khris Middleton on this potential game-tying layup. NBA's Last Two Minute Report says it was the correct no call because it was only "marginal" contact. L2M does say Deni Avdija fouled Giannis before he passed back. pic.twitter.com/OZqhW4eOfF
After Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell was hit with technical fouls on two separate plays in the final minute of overtime and was ejected with 30.5 seconds to go in Utah's 131-123 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, the All-Star said he's tired of the Jazz being "screwed" by the referees, calling the way his team's games are officiated "f---ing ridiculous." "First off, you know, give the 76ers credit. They played a hard game. Joel [Embiid] did what he does, and at the end of the day, they're a good team. We competed. But it's tough. It's tough to go out there and see how we fight and compete, and to have a game like that taken from us," Mitchell said Wednesday night.
"Now, I'm never ever one to blame a ref, to blame an official -- I can say I could have done more -- but this is getting out of hand. There have been games like this that we've won, there have been games like this that we've lost. But this whole refereeing stuff. ... We're nice, we don't complain, like, we don't get frustrated, we fight through things, and the fact that we continually get ... screwed, in a way, by this. You know?
"We won this game, in my personal opinion. You know? But like I said, I'm going to give them credit. They won. Whatever. Cool. But it's been a consistent thing, and the question is, 'Can we do it? Can we sustain it? Are we for real No. 1? And, yeah the hell we are. And it's getting f---ing ridiculous, that this is what is happening."
"We have a whole second half of the season to go and get ready for, and I'm sick of it, to be honest with you," Mitchell said. "We all are. This is something that just it eats me. It eats at me, man. "Y'all know what it is. We all know what it is. But it's really getting out of hand. It's really, really, really getting out of hand. And the league needs to do something about this. "I want to see the last two-minute report. I want to see it. But it's getting out of hand."
That disparity also drew the ire of Gobert, Utah's other All-Star -- who, like Mitchell, also earned himself a certain fine from the NBA sometime Thursday after repeatedly calling out the officials during his own postgame media session. "Our guys are not able to get calls everybody else in the f---ing league gets," Gobert said. "We know we are the Utah Jazz, and maybe some people don't want to see us go as far as we can go, but it's disappointing. "Three times in a row, Mike Conley is going to the rim, and they're grabbing him right in front of the officials and there's no calls. And, on the other end, there are calls that are invisible that are being made.
Gobert went on to say he believed the Jazz were being treated unfairly because they play in a small market. "I don't want to say that," Gobert said, "but I really believe it. After playing in this league for eight years, it's a little harder [to be in a small market], and that's one of the things that we've got to overcome. That's why I told the guys, 'When you're a small market, you've got to be better than just better. You've got to be elite, and you've got to control what you can control.'
After the game, crew chief Marc Davis told a pool reporter that Booker's first technical was for "continuous complaining" and the second was for "directing profane language at a game official." Suns forward Jae Crowder said he tried to get between Booker and the referees to deescalate the tense situation but was too late. "Devin was disputing his first technical," Crowder said. "He didn't like the first technical that was given to him and he voiced his opinion about it. The second ref heard him voice his opinion and decided to give him another one."
"I think Jae Crowder said it best: We got better tonight," said Suns coach Monty Williams after the game. "You gain confidence when a guy like Book doesn't play or gets tossed and you're able to pull a game out on the road at the end of a trip. That's a recipe for mailing it in, and this group has shown a lot of resiliency. But that was a big-time character win, and we got better. "I think we played good tonight, but we probably got more confidence that we can pull a game out without Devin or Chris [Paul] saving the day.''
The Jump: SVG on Zion: "Someday, he's going to start to get the calls he deserves" #NBA #NBATwitter #TheJump #WontBowDown
Adam Spolane: Bennie Adams just hit Ja Morant with a technical foul
Gary Washburn: And now Marcus Smart just got a tech from the bench. Yep. #Celtics #Hawks
