Lakers Redick officiating; Reeves feels ‘disrespected’

OKLAHOMA CITY — LATER Los Angeles Lakers the guard Austin Reeves Following LA, face crew chief John Goble on center court 125-107 Game 2 loss from Oklahoma City Thunder In Thursday’s Western Conference semifinals, coach JJ Redick ripped the officiating during his postgame comments.

“I said sarcastically the other day, they’re the most disruptive team without fouling,” Redick said. “I mean, they have guys that foul every possession. … They’re tough enough to play. They’re tough enough to play, if they foul and they foul, you’re going to be able to call them.”

Redick, who was called for a technical foul with 1:26 left in the first quarter, yelled at referee Ben Taylor for what he thought was a missed call, saying the performance was particularly poor. LeBron James This series.

James, who averaged 5.3 free throw attempts per game during the regular season, has a total of just five free throws through the first two games.

“LeBron has the worst whistle of any star player I’ve ever seen,” Redick said. “I mean, I’ve been with him for two years now. Small guys, because they can be theatrical, they usually foul more, and it’s hard for them to make big players like LeBron. He gets clobbered. He got clobbered again tonight.

“And it’s not like a new thing. It’s not specific to this crew or this series. He gets fouled a lot and it’s (not called). The guy hits the head more than any player I’ve ever seen on drives and it rarely gets called.”

James, who scored 23 points on 9-for-18 shooting with six assists, expressed his frustration with the referees at several points in Game 2.

He scored a layup with 4:52 left in the first quarter, when he absorbed contact with his body from the Oklahoma City big man to pull L.A. to within five, 16-11. Jaylin Williams and landed on his right hip on the floor. No calls were made.

He was walking the floor to start the Lakers’ offensive possession with 9:26 left in the second quarter when he met the Thunder. Alex Caruso Near the foul line, and Caruso sprawled on the floor and sold contact. James was called for an offensive foul.

After Oklahoma City, he made a series of jump shots Cason Wallace He was called for a foul, with the Lakers trailing 107-94 with 5:39 left, but instead of a chance at a three-point play, Wallace’s foul was called on the floor and the shot didn’t count.

“We’re down 2-0,” James said Thursday when asked about the overall assignment.

As for why Redick might be of the opinion that James got the worst whistle of any star in the league, he replied: “I don’t know.”

Reaves, who faced Goblet with 5:53 to go in the fourth after a timeout with LA trailing 107-94, wasn’t as strong.

Before the time out, the referees called a loose-ball foul under the Thunder’s Williams basket for possession by the Lakers center. Jackson Hayes‘ shorts as they battled for rebounds for double fouls by Williams and Hayes.

With the Lakers trailing 104-94 with 6:06 left, instead of driving the ball out of bounds under the basket, Hayes and Williams hit a jump ball at center court.

While both teams were in position before the jump, Reeves said Goebel lost his cool.

“I felt like I was respectful to all of them all night. I mean, a million times in the past I’ve said worse things,” Reeves said. “And when we were doing the whole jump ball when (the Thunder players) were changing spots, I wanted to go the other way because they had a guy on the other side, just trying to keep an advantage. And (Goble) turned around and just yelled in my face. I thought it was disrespectful.

“At the end of the day, we’re adults. And I didn’t feel like he needed to scream in my face like that. I told him. I wasn’t being disrespectful. I told him if I did this to him, I would get a tech. I think the only reason I didn’t get a tech is because he knew he made a mistake, so I made a mistake.”

The Thunder jumped out to win and Wallace hit a 3 to put his team up 13. Their lead never dropped below 12 the rest of the night.

Redick had no problem with Reaves, who scored a playoff career high with 31 points, or James’ outbursts.

“Our guys were great tonight just to stay together, ready,” he said. “Emotion is part of basketball. And I think part of the reason (the Thunder) do the way they do is because they don’t show emotion, and that’s a credit to them. I mean, they really take the emotion out of the game. They’re very tough. They don’t complain to the officials and maybe they’re the beneficiaries of that, they don’t know.”

The Lakers were called for 26 fouls in Game 2; The Thunder were called for 21 men. Oklahoma City attempted 26 free throws as a team, while LA attempted 21.

Lakers forward Rui Hashimurawho continued his strong postseason with 16 points on 6-for-10 shooting, agreed with his coach.

“We cannot control the referees,” Hachimura said. “So there’s really nothing we can do about it. So we’ve just got to play through it. They’re the defending champions. (The refs) give them respect. Whatever. There’s nothing we can do about it.”