Lakers Thunder Game 2 Was Hard To Watch

One thing should be clear. The Thunder are clearly the much better team. They are deeper, younger, and have arguably the best player in the league today. The Lakers had a slim chance to win from the beginning.

That, however, is what made Game Two so frustrating to watch. Why does the better team feel the need to perform extracurricular activities? Oklahoma City, as a whole, benefited from very questionable calls.

The first one that comes to mind was the Chet Holmgren flop. With about four minutes to go in the first quarter, DeAndre Ayton was trying to post up Holmgren near the basket. Ayton’s right shoulder bumped into Holmgren’s jaw incidentally.

The shoulder bump led to Holmgren flailing and falling to the ground. The antics seemed so over the top that commentator Stan Van Gundy called him out on it. He described it as a big-time acting job.

The play was eventually reviewed and overturned as a no-call. The main issue with that is that Holmgren was able to fool the refs seamlessly. Before that play, LeBron James scored a layup and had a Thunder defender give body contact to him, resulting in what should’ve been an and-one. Instead, the refs didn’t call anything, and then a few moments later, the flop took place, and it was a tough look for the NBA.

Another issue that occurred twice in this game was the call of a continuation foul. James, in the fourth quarter, made a jump shot while getting fouled. He clearly stopped dribbling, and the ball was in the upward shooting motion. Los Angeles was trailing 107-94 midway through the fourth and needed a spark. That basket would have made it 107-96 with a chance for James to cut it to ten.

The refs called the foul on the floor, and it would be a side-out for the Lakers. All Los Angeles players were incensed. Marcus Smart and James were pleading with the ref while JJ Reddick was on the verge of saying some choice words. In a big moment of a game like this, it’s unacceptable to miss this type of call. Austin Reaves had a similar call on him when the ball was in the shooting motion earlier in the game.

The most egregious one of them all came early in the second quarter. James was positioning himself near the free-throw line but ran into Alex Caruso and was called for a charge. Caruso did a nice job selling the contact and fell, which caused the Laker turnover.

The issue isn’t the call itself. The main problem is that Oklahoma City seems to play by a different set of rules. On offense, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has gotten away with offensive contact worse than what James did. Defensively, they are aggressive and get up under, and that is totally ok.

Having the game officiated in person is great for the league, except when it’s inconsistent. James’ contact with Caruso looks marginal at best, and it cost Los Angeles a possession when we, as fans, have seen the Thunder do much worse.

End Of My Lakers Thunder Referee Rant

The main takeaway is not that the Lakers were robbed. Without Luka Doncic, they are clearly the inferior team, and even with him, they got blasted by Oklahoma City. What I take issue with the most is the antics of the Thunder.

There is no reason for Oklahoma City to flop and fabricate contact. Gilgeous-Alexander and the company are clearly the better team. Instead, they’re resorting to non-basketball activity to gain an advantage, and the worst part is that it’s working.

The NBA has a Thunder officiating problem. It’s hard to blame the players because if they are getting away with why stop? The blame has to be directed to Adam Silver, and he needs to find a way to remedy this issue. It’s been going on too long with this specific team.