Nuggets coach accuses referees of ‘absolutely crazy’ handling of Nikola Jokic

Denver Nuggets interim head coach David Adelman had a major complaint about how officials handled Nikola Jokic on Thursday night.

The Nuggets fell to the Los Angeles Clippers, 111-105, in Game 6 of their Western Conference first-round series on Thursday at Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. The defeat meant the series will go to a decisive Game 7.

Adelman was unhappy, however, after Jokic attempted just two free throws in Thursday’s loss. In his mind, that was evidence that Jokic received an unfavorable whistle, and he essentially suggested that the Nuggets would be very aggressive with contact in Game 7 if that was the kind of series the officials were going to call.

“Nikola gets fouled a lot. I’m not sure what was happening tonight, but for him to shoot two free throws with the amount of contact that was going on out there was absolutely crazy,” Adelman said, via Vinny Benedetto of the Denver Gazette. “They put smalls on him. Those smalls were allowed to do whatever they want, so I’m really excited for Saturday that we’re going to be able to do the same thing with their best players, because if that’s the physicality we’re allowed to play with, we’ll react to it, and we will go there in Game 7.”

The two free throws were the fewest Jokic has attempted in any of the series’ six games, though not by that much. He only got to the line four times in Game 2 and five times in Game 5.

Jokic still scored 25 points in the Game 6 defeat on 11-for-22 shooting.

Jokic’s critics would counter that he might not get to the line much because officials are wary of his flopping, which has come under increased scrutiny lately. This will probably be a storyline to watch in Game 7.