The Knicks weren’t bashful or quiet about who to blame. To Julius Randle and Tom Thibodeau, in particular, Tuesday’s 112-110 loss to the Nets fell on the referees.
“I’m pissed,” Tom Thibodeau said just before walking out of a brief postgame presser.
The stats backed up the coach’s accusations of bias officiating, with the Knicks attempting just 12 free throws to Brooklyn’s 25. Randle, who was whistled for a pivotal technical in the fourth quarter and angrily chased down referee Jason Goldenberg after the final buzzer, hinted at a larger conspiracy, saying he was informed by the officials that he’s not receiving the same calls because of his strength.
Randle, a bruising power forward, took just two foul shots Tuesday, while James Harden and Kevin Durant combined for 19.
“They said that certain contact doesn’t affect me like it affects other players, that I’m stronger,” Randle said.
How did he react to that explanation?
“Oh man, it pisses me off, to be honest with you,” said Randle, who was consistently guarded Tuesday by smaller defenders, including Harden. “That’s not how you officiate the game.
“You know, with basketball, usually the smaller players are guarding bigger players they get away with a lot more but certain things are a little bit more blatant. You just slap a guy I don’t care who it is, it’s going to affect him.”
Randle is averaging about five free throw attempts per game, which is lower than his previous four seasons. The All-Star is not getting the All-Star calls.
“You’ve gotta ask them. I don’t know what they’re watching or seeing but you have to ask them,” Randle said. “Like you said, as aggressive as I play, attacking the paint, I can’t be penalized for just being stronger. That’s the answer that I got tonight.”
Randle, who was fined $15,000 last season last season for publicly criticizing referees, walked a similar line Tuesday but also tried to divert the questions away from the officiating. Thibodeau picked up the slack.
“There’s a big discrepancy in free throws. I can tell you that,” the coach said. “Julius is driving the ball, and he gets two free throws. I don’t really care how the game’s called. I really don’t. You can call it tight, you can call it loose. But it’s got to be the same.”
Not coincidentally, Tuesday’s game turned on a couple big calls. New York’s point-guard-by-committee situation worked well with Kemba Walker out of the rotation, and the visitors were positioned to pull off an upset.
But James Johnson won the game for Brooklyn on the foul line, having earned the trip with 2.2 seconds left after getting hacked by Mitchell Robinson in the paint. The Knicks had no timeouts to draw up a potential game-winner because Thibodeau lost an earlier challenge, when Durant had sold mild contact that was upheld on the review.
Flopping is Randle’s best course of action if the official’s think he’s too strong to be fouled.
“I want to look at the film,” Thibodeau said. “But something’s not right.”
