The Los Angeles Lakers fell to a 107-125 Game 2 loss against the OKC Thunder, giving the Thunder a 2-0 series lead in the second round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs. This game has arguably been one of the most controversial clashes of the Playoffs so far, with fans and experts agreeing that there were major officiating issues that hurt the Lakers during this clash.
The Lakers were called for 26 personal fouls compared to the Thunder’s 21, with OKC also shooting 26 free throws in the game compared to the 21 that the Lakers shot. While this discrepancy isn’t that stark, there were plenty of calls that provably went against the Lakers in this clash.
While most are sympathizing with the Lakers, 2011 NBA Finals MVP Dirk Nowitzki weighed in on the issue on Amazon Prime’s postgame show after Game 2. Nowitzki shared a reality check with the Lakers and their head coach JJ Redick about how they’re finally feeling the pain of other fans and teams who spent years complaining about the Lakers getting a more favorable whistle than everyone else.
“The Lakers are the team that usually always wins the free throw battle. This is a little new to them that they’re getting clobbered a lot. It’s just something where you need to work the referee and position yourself for the next game. That’s just part of the Playoffs.”
In their two games against the Thunder, the Lakers have attempted 17.0 free throws per game compared to OKC’s 19.0 free throws per game. The difference is minor, but it still has led to severe criticism of the officiating from regular fans as well as experts, as they believe the calls haven’t been fair for LA.
In the first round, the Lakers had 26.3 free throw attempts over six games against the Houston Rockets. Houston received just 24.5 free throw attempts over this series, so this does validate Nowitzki’s point for this postseason run.
The Lakers shot 24.0 free throws per game over the regular season, the 10th most in the NBA. The Thunder aren’t far behind with 22.8 free throw attempts per game, which ranks the 11th most for the 2025-26 season. This does poke holes in the narrative that the Thunder have been favored by referees all season, but the stats for the second round are telling a different story so far.
Coach Redick openly called out the officials after Game 2 by saying that LeBron has the worst whistle of any star in the NBA after multiple missed calls on the 41-year-old superstar.
“He got clobbered on that one play with Jaylin Williams trying to come over baseline and block the shot with Dort,” said Redick. “LeBron has the worst whistle of any star player I’ve ever seen. I’ve been with him for two years now. There are small guys because they can be theatrical, they can typically draw more fouls, and the bigger players who are built like LeBron, it’s hard for them. They got clobbered, and he got clobbered again a bunch tonight. That’s not a new thing; it’s not specific to this crew or this series. He gets fouled, and it doesn’t happen. He gets hit on the head more than any guy I’ve ever seen.”
It’s important to remember that the Thunder have been the better team this series, something even coach JJ Redick has admitted. However, their aggressive defense has soured many fans on their run through the Playoffs so far. Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker compared OKC’s defense to the WWE during their 4-0 sweep loss to the Thunder in Round 1.
If the Lakers want to win this series, they need more than just the referees to call the game evenly. If the officials had done that through the first two games, the result of the game likely would’ve been the same. However, the fact that it clearly wasn’t is what’s angering fans right now.
Even Nowitzki’s comments didn’t say the Lakers were incorrect in feeling hard-done by the referees in Game 2, he just made the observation that these are the complaints that have come from opponents of the Lakers over the last few decades now.
The shoe is on the other foot now, which is definitely making the Lakers feel uncomfortable as they hope to win Game 3 at home with their leading scorer Luka Doncic potentially missing the entire series.
