Analyst goes after Chet Holmgren and officials after the Lakers’ Game 2 loss originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Los Angeles Lakers 125-107 Thursday night at Paycom Center, taking a commanding 2-0 lead in their Western Conference semifinal series.
Former NFL wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh, co-host of the Speakeasy show, went off during a live postgame broadcast, targeting the night’s officiating crew.
His criticism was aimed at Thunder center Chet Holmgren, whom he accused of overselling contact.
He also acknowledged OKC’s quality all the same, noting the Thunder continued dominating even without All-Star forward Jalen Williams, who remains sidelined with a hamstring injury.
“We got our ass beat. Oklahoma City’s a better team, but the NBA is t****ed. These referees are god-awful. They’re god-awful. Like Chet Holmgren, bro, really? You get hit in your chest and you lay on the ground for 45 seconds like you got hit in the face and it’s the playoffs. This is the playoffs! I guarantee Oklahoma City shot more free throws than the Lakers. Guarantee! I didn’t even look. Guaranteed they did. They do all the time. They’re just a good team.
“Jalen Williams ain’t playing, and they’re just rolling everybody. Still haven’t lost the game. They’re going to beat the Lakers with Luka, without Luka… But the refs? We got to do something about it, dude! 7-1, you get touched in your chest and you fall down like you got punched in your mouth. You hold your face. Like, come on, bro. We gotta man up.
“We’re playing sports here. Like, we gotta man up. Then call a foul. They challenged it. ‘Oh, it wasn’t a foul.’ That’s two points you called. That’s not a foul. LeBron gets an and-one in act of shooting.
“These referees in the NBA are terrible. And I know what everybody know. Everybody know what it is. You just hope you don’t get three terrible ones in one game. You for sure getting one. Yeah. You just hope you don’t get all three”
Also, Lakers coach JJ Redick drew a technical foul in the first quarter while disputing calls at the sideline. He went further postgame, telling reporters that LeBron James, who has attempted just five free throws across two playoff games, gets “clobbered” without drawing the whistle.
The Lakers host Game 3 Saturday. The officiating debate will follow this series back to Los Angeles.
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