One of the most commented topics in the league right now are the fouls called during the first four games of the Western Conference Finals. The Los Angeles Lakers recently reached out to the league to complain about LeBron James not getting enough free throw attempts and that drastically changed in Game 4, with Bron having 14 free throw attempts.
Obviously, that raised a lot of controversies and nobody is happy with the officiating so far in the series. The Western Conference Finals are entering a decisive phase and the competition will be harder. The Los Angeles Lakers are leading 3-1 but the Denver Nuggets will try to overcome a 3-1 deficit for the third time this postseason. However, the referees will have to do their job properly if they want to benefit the game and not one of the teams.
A curious stat for this series is that both teams have attempted the exact same number of free throws during four games, 113.
Ry Cole of The Athletic broke down that the Nuggets got more favorable calls during the first two games of the series, while the Lakers saw an improvement of their numbers in the next two. Curiously, before Game 4 they talked with the league and let them know their worries about LeBron not going to the free throw line as much as they think he should.
Nuggets got a more favorable whistle in Games 2 & Game 3. Lakers got it in Game 1 & 4.
— Ry (@JustRyCole) September 25, 2020
This is a very controversial topic and it doesn’t seem like this will be the end of it. Lakers and Nuggets will clash tonight, hoping to play their best game and not having to complain about bad calls. It will be interesting to see how things go tonight after Mike Malone said he’ll talk to the league, too, to see if the Nuggets can get some more fouls.
