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‘Refs made bad calls; gave Jimmy Butler 4 extra free throws’: Lakers’s Frank Vogel unhappy with referees in NBA Finals

Raahib Singh
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Refs made bad calls; gave Jimmy Butler 4 extra free throws': Lakers's Frank Vogel

Frank Vogel is once again back to complaining about the refs for their calls in Game 5 of NBA Finals; and his justifications make no sense.

After the disappointing 111-108 loss to the Heat, Lakers’ head coach Frank Vogel called out the match referees for calls that he felt were bad.

The Lakers were never truly in control of Game 5 of the NBA Finals. The Heat came storming out from the start as they had to put up a near-perfect match to force a Game 6.

Duncan Robinson, who had had a quiet series, showed up big time today. He scored 26 points and secured 5 rebounds while shooting 7-13 from 3s. However, the star of the game was Jimmy Butler. He finished the game with 35 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists. 4 of those 35 points came in the final minute, in form of clutch free throws.

Also Read: LeBron James needed to shoot that shot’- Jay Williams refuses to let Lakers star off the hook for passing to Danny Green

LeBron James tried his best to make sure the Lakers won the championship last night, but his efforts were not enough. He ended the night with game-high 40 points, 13 rebounds, and 7 assists.

Frank Vogel speaks up about ref calls he did not like

Frank Vogel talks about calls made in the final minute of the game, which potentially were game-changers, and calls them as wrong calls.

“I felt two bad calls at the end put (Jimmy) Butler to the line. That’s unfortunate in a game of this magnitude. Anthony Davis has a perfect verticality. That should be a ‘play on.’ And the time before that, Markieff Morris has his hand on the ball, and that should play on,” Vogel said. “They gave him four free throws and make it an uphill battle for us.”

While Vogel believes his guys had perfect verticality, we all saw AD’s jump and he was not going straight up.

Many people believe that the current Lakers’ head coach is using a play out of Lakers’ ex-head coach, Phil Jackson’s playbook. Back in 2010, the Lakers were setting out to defend their title, and just before the playoffs, Phil Jackson started calling out the refs and kept talking about how they were treating Kevin Durant.

Also Read: “I did not take the easy way out, I earnt it: Kevin Durant”

Whatever the case may be, the referees would be a bit more vigilant in Game 6. The Lakers still lead 3-2 in the Finals.

Game 6 takes place on Sunday, at 7.30 PM ET.

About the author

Raahib Singh

Raahib Singh

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Raahib Singh is an NBA Journalist and Content Strategist at The SportsRush. A Computer Science Engineer by qualification, Raahib's passion for sports drew him towards TSR. He started playing basketball at 14 and has been following the NBA since 2013. His entry into the basketball world perfectly coincided with Stephen Curry putting the league on notice. Having followed the league for a long time, he decided to use his knowledge to become a sportswriter with The SportsRush in 2020. Raahib loves to put up some shots in his spare time, watch Cricket, Formula 1, and/or read a nice thriller.

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