Nuggets HC Calls Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 'A Foul Artist'; Alleges Biased Officiating On Nikola Jokic

Denver Nuggets head coach David Adelman was visibly frustrated with the Oklahoma City Thunder's guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and his "foul-baiting". While calling out the Thunder guard and his approach to the game, Adelman also called out how referees approached officiating on Nikola Jokic after the game.

"You hope there is a give and take," said Adelman, referring to the state of officiating. "If Shai's allowed to use his off arm, which he's very good at, you hope that they'll allow us to at least have some impact with his body. It goes both ways. The guy is so hard to guard regardless." 

The Nuggets' head coach addressed Christian Braun's efforts to showcase to officials how his hands weren't involved while he was guarding Gilgeous-Alexander. Unfortunately, this was to no avail. 

"He is a foul artist," added Adelman. "He's an amazing player. And that's one of the big things. You can't just let him and Jalen [Williams] stand at the free-throw line all game... they're controlling the flow of the game."

Adelman continued to address how the series was revolving around the strategies that his team had to come up with to guard someone who gets to the free-throw line so effectively. However, he also made sure to acknowledge how important it was to have the leeway to be physical within the framework set by the officials.

The alleged bias with which the officials have been handing out fouls has been addressed by the Nuggets players as well. This was a consistent opinion when referring to Nuggets star Nikola Jokic, more so after a blowout loss in Game 2.

Although this may have been the case in previous games, the Nuggets personnel and staff may not have as much of an argument for the way Game 4 was officiated.

Game 4 resulted in a frustrating 92-87 loss for the Nuggets. Although the tempers may be flaring in Denver regarding foul calls, they were on the receiving end of a favorable whistle as they went to the charity stripe significantly more times than their opponents.

While Jokic may have been fouled more times than the stats would imply, he still went to the line a total of 14 times. This is still more than the Thunder's star guard, who shot 12 FTs for the game. OKC's starting backcourt shot a total of 18 FTS for the game, with Gilgeous-Alexander missing three. 

Denver simply lost the game in the fourth quarter owing to some poor execution. After enjoying a six-point cushion heading into the final frame of the game, the Nuggets saw their lead dwindle behind some tenacious three-point shooting by the Thunder, followed by some inspired heroics by their star.

Meanwhile, it seemed like Denver simply didn't have a response for the Thunder other than running their offense through Jokic. Needless to say, this wasn't a sustainable plan considering that the Nuggets' star was having such a poor shooting night.

Jokic ended the game with 27 points, 13 rebounds, and five assists to go with four steals. However, shooting 7-22 from the field simply does not ensure wins for a team.

A loss in Game 4 sees the series tied yet again. With Game 5 set to take place at the Paycom Center, the Thunder will have an opportunity to take control of the series on Tuesday at 9:30 pm ET.