Great news for Lakers fans as their team will head on to face the OKC Thunder in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs this year as Los Angeles recently defeated the New Orleans Pelicans in the play-in tournament to clinch a spot in the playoffs. Speaking on the game after its conclusion, Pelicans head coach Willie Green was understandably upset by the outcome of the contest. However, not many foresaw that he would go as far as to blame the referees for it.
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This was the second game in a row that the Pelicans lost to the Lakers. On Sunday, it was a pivotal matchup for the sixth seed. And this time, the game decided the fate of who would go on to compete in the playoffs.
After the game, head coach Willie Green sat down with the media for a post-game press conference. While talking to the reporters, Green mentioned his distraught over the free-throw disparity between the two teams.
“I don’t feel like we have gotten a great whistle all season… We’re one of the teams that dominates the paint night in and night out, we have a physical force in Zion… It just seems like we’re not getting those calls.”
By the end of the game, the Los Angeles Lakers had shot a total of 29 free throws. The New Orleans Pelicans on the other hand only went on to shoot a total of 15 free throws. Additionally, the Lakers were only called for 12 personal fouls as opposed to the Pelicans’ 23, per Statmuse. To be fair to Green, there does seem to be something to talk about here.
This second matchup between the Lakers and the Pelicans was much closer than the one they had on Sunday. New Orleans only lost the game by a four-point deficit, which is something that could’ve been different had the Lakers not been favored so much in foul calls.
This has been the story with Los Angeles all season as the team does seem to get more foul calls that ultimately result in more free throws per game. And unfortunately for the Pelicans, they were just the latest victims of this phenomenon.
