The officiating in the series between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Golden State Warriors has, unfortunately, been one of the bigger talking points.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr had refrained from blaming the officials after Game 3, but after their 104-101 loss in Game 4, he expressed his frustrations with the Lakers players and the referees.
“I think we had three or four illegal screens called, and that was disappointing,” Kerr said when asked about the fourth quarter. “I didn’t get a look at the replay on any of them. But there were a couple that were very disappointing just live. The Lakers, they’re a team that plays with a lot of gamesmanship. They understand how to generate some calls. I thought they took some flops and were rewarded, but I’ll have to see the replays. Maybe I’m wrong, maybe those were all illegal screens but didn’t feel like it watching it live.”
(starts at 2:52 mark):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1UkPa5bRv8
The Warriors were outscored 27-17 in the fourth quarter and those calls on the illegal screens definitely broke up their flow on offense. Kerr clearly doesn’t believe those were the right calls and he definitely would have ruffled some feathers with these comments. The Lakers might fire back and it’d be interesting to hear what they have to say about it.
Golden State just has not been happy with the officiating in this series, as Draymond Green stated it is frustrating. The Lakers once again shot more free throws here in Game 4 than the Warriors, but they only shot 8 more (20-12), so it wasn’t the big talking point as it was in the previous three games, where they attempted 44 more free throws in total.
Game 4 Was A Huge Missed Opportunity For The Warriors
If the Warriors do on to lose this series, and it is certainly looking that way, they will be gutted that they let Game 4 slip from their grasp. They were up 12 at one point in the third quarter but weren’t able to seal the deal. Their situation coming into this game was compared by Kerr to Game 4 against the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals last year and it looked like they were going to come away with a win here as well, but it wasn’t to be.
Winning in Boston in Game 4 when they were down 2-1 is what turned that series around and a win here might have done the same. Instead, they now have to find a way to do something that has never been done, overturn a 3-1 deficit against a team led by LeBron James.
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