Lakers Warned to ‘Stop Whining’ About Officiating Ahead of Game 3 vs OKC

They got closer. Kept knocking on the door and making runs. The home team just didn’t seem to care. That’s why the Los Angeles Lakers were blown out again by the defending champions.

The Thunder cruised to a 18-win powered by a dominant fourth quarter. Oklahoma City got hot from the perimeter and buried the Lakers with its depth and swarming defense. 

Ultimately, the Lakers, again, did not have enough bodies to keep up with the deepest, most talent diverse team in the NBA. 

The series now gets ready to shift cities. Game 3 will be played in Los Angeles.

But the fallout and drama of the first two games will not be left in Oklahoma City; this series has just gotten a few steps more intense after the Lakers voiced their displeasure with the officiating in Game 2.

After the game, Lakers stars Austin Reaves and LeBron James were seen huddled with the officials at midcourt. Reaves confronted referee crew chief John Goble.

Let’s just say that conversation was not about summer vacation plans.

And after the game, L.A. head coach JJ Redick intensified the conversation with his open criticism of the referees. 

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Los Angeles Lakers Warned About Complaining

There were several plays during Wednesday’s Game 2 where a Laker, whether it was a player or coach Redick, was seen expressing strong, visible frustration after a supposed non-call. 

With just under six minutes to play in the fourth quarter, James, coming off a screen, drew contact on Oklahoma City’s Cason Wallace as he threw up a shot at the basket that went in.

Wallace was whistled for a foul — but a non-shooting one. 

Seeing the officials rule the foul on the floor, James erupted with an animated response. Over on the sidelines, Redick, first in disbelief, appeared to struggle to contain his frustration on the ruling of the foul.

Yet and still, Los Angeles Times writer Bill Plashcke isn’t buying any of the Lakers’ issues with the officiating. He would like L.A. to accept the reality of this series. 

“Austin Reaves bounced back from his disastrous Game 1 with 31 points and LeBron James was LeBron with 23 points and Rui Hachimura continued his scorching shooting with 16. But it wasn’t close enough,” Plaschke wrote. “It wasn’t close to being close enough, and please, stop whining that the referees failed to call enough fouls on the aggressive Thunder. Their opponents always whine about that, and Reaves even stayed on the court after Thursday’s final buzzer to vent to the referees about that, but just … don’t.”

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L.A. Urged to Look in the Mirror

Game 2 followed an almost identical script as Game 1. 

The Lakers hung around, hung around, hung around some more. The Thunder just stayed ready to punch back each. And. Every. Time.

Los Angeles closed the Oklahoma City deficit to just five as clutch time approached, but the Thunder answered with a 8-0 run.

They are the champs. And that’s what they do. 

It’s the reality the Lakers just have to face straight up.

“Against the world champions, spurts don’t get it done, and less than 48 minutes doesn’t get it done,” Plaschke wrote. “The Lakers have occasionally been tantalizingly close, but there’s a clear absence here of any cigar, and no chance of one walking through that door. It was fun while it lasted, and it lasted longer than most would have imagined. But it’s over.”

If the Lakers have one last gasp in them, they have Game 3 to prove it. But nothing is working in their favor. 

Not history. Not matchups. Not game trends. Not shooting variance. Nothing.

The series moves to Los Angeles for Game 3 on Saturday night.

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