Following a tight 131-123 overtime loss to the Sixers in a battle of No. 1 seeds on Wednesday, Jazz stars Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert were among those critical of the officiating, suggesting the referees affected the outcome of the game, as relayed by Sarah Todd of The Deseret News and Tim Bontemps of ESPN.
“It’s tough to go out there and see how we fight and compete, and to have a game like that taken from us,” Mitchell said, after praising the Sixers for their performance. “Now, I’m never ever one to blame a ref, to blame an official – I can say I could have done more – but this is getting out of hand. There have been games like this that we’ve won; there have been games like this that we’ve lost. But this whole refereeing stuff. … We’re nice, we don’t complain, we don’t get frustrated, we fight through things, and the fact (is) that we continually get … screwed, in a way, by this.
“We won this game, in my personal opinion. You know?” Mitchell went on. “But like I said, I’m going to give them credit. They won. Whatever. Cool. But it’s been a consistent thing, and the question is, ‘Can we do it? Can we sustain it? Are we for real No. 1?’ And, yeah, the hell we are. And it’s getting f—ing ridiculous that this is what is happening.”
Mitchell was called for a pair of technical fouls in overtime — the second came after he yelled at the game’s officials for what he believed was a missed foul call. The 76ers, who shoot more free throws than any other team in the NBA, had way more opportunities from the foul line than the Jazz on Wednesday, going 27-for-35, compared to 14-of-19 for Utah.
“Our guys are not able to get calls everybody else in the f—ing league gets,” Gobert said. “We know we are the Utah Jazz, and maybe some people don’t want to see us go as far as we can go, but it’s disappointing. Three times in a row, Mike Conley is going to the rim, and they’re grabbing him right in front of the officials, and there’s no calls. And on the other end, there are calls that are invisible that are being made.”
Gobert went on to say that the way the Jazz are treated by officials is “disrespectful,” and that he hopes they feel “ashamed” if they rewatch the game. The All-Star center also pointed to Utah’s small market as one reason he believes the team isn’t getting a fair whistle.
“I don’t want to say that, but I really believe it” Gobert said. “… That’s why I told the guys: ‘When you’re a small market, you’ve got to be better than just better. You’ve got to be elite, and you’ve got to control what you can control.'”
The Jazz’s 27-9 record is the NBA’s best mark by a full three games, so if the team has been held back at all by the officiating in the first half, it hasn’t shown up in the standings.
While the NBA never suspends players for complaints about officiating, fines aren’t uncommon, so it’s probably safe to assume Mitchell and Gobert should prepare to write checks to the league.
Unfortunately, they are both correct. The officiating was terrible last night.
Foul discrepancies happen when one team chucks up 40 percent more threes than the other. The sixers play to contact, the jazz rely on the perimeter, both are acceptable but one gets you to the line and the other doesn’t. Gobert lost them that game, he looks awful against Embiid and Simmons.
Donovan got punked by Ben. He tried to hook Ben’s arm and didn’t get the call he wanted then he cried about it. I really do like the Jazz and they are my pick from the West but their frustration just got the best of them and they responded poorly.
Bingo. Simmons locked down Mitchell, especially in OT, to the point where Donovan threw a temper tantrum.
Good for them.. it’s time for the NBA to stop protecting Embiid..last night the dude was out of position and got caught underneath the hoop and flopped..
Yes, the guy should be at the line a lot, but he should foul out of every game within 20 minutes…
It is sad the favoritism that goes to certain superstars and to certain high profile teams. I have seen Embid and Giannis especially get ridiculous calls in their favor. They are both great talents, but should not get preferential treatment. There are others too; but being in the East, those are the teams I see a lot.
That was the tone of those comments, Sixers get respect and them not.
Embiid gets good treatment from the refs like Shaquille did.
Lol. Embiid was dominate, Mitchell took 34 shots to score 33. Gobert couldn’t stop Embiid.
I didn’t watch the game last night but officiating in the NBA is ridiculous and with so many players flopping it’s becoming harder and harder to watch.
NBA needs to suspend players for flopping. Lebron flops all the time but the NBA never fines him over call him out for it. Twice in 2 weeks he was caught flopping and both times got the calls his way.
He did get a warning. Stephen A and Max had a debate on first take about it. Of course Stephen A defended LeBron by saying if he could get away with it then it’s a good play. I’ve seen him say before that’s not a basketball play when he saw someone else do it. So yeah stars get better calls, it’s sad.
A warning means nothing. It supposed to be a fine by NBA standards. LeBron also fouls all the time but refs do not call it because of course he is a star. You hear announcer all the time saying if that player was a star that would be a no call.
Commentary like that does not single out anyone, but of course in your head, you heard a Lebron reference. GSW got away with fouling Lebron in the finals.
Nowadays JVG just kind of sighs when he sees replays he doesn’t go along with because he has seen so much not get called. LJ gets bumped but he doesn’t show it real time because he’s so heavy and the rim is right in front of him. But it was still contact.
Didn’t see these calls but the inconsistency of calls happens in every single game, nba refs are just making stuff up because the game is too fast for them to call correctly
Knowing Adam Silver’s history of oppressive oversight over the 76ers, I can only laugh when people regurgitate some conspiracy theory about the NBA favoring big market teams.
He was oppressive about Hinkie and his yearly losing scheme. He made the Sixers famous even outside BB but for the wrong reasons, even if it eventually worked out okay. Silver doesn’t like when people laugh at the NBA.
So when will CP3 , the players union president , a rep from the refs side sit down and air the frustration out?? What happened to better player/referee relations? Lastly, to have fair calling on both sides and whatever have you. I would think after Booker was ejected for the weakest techs that I have ever seen, perhaps Chris Paul needs to ask for that sit down asap.
What do you mean, better relations? Harden likes to lecture the refs at length, gets mad when he can’t. Like that?
Are you saying they’re unfair on purpose?
First off the NBA has like the NFL. Gone offense offense. They protect offensive players cause they want more scoring. Offense is what sells it’s why offense gets the bigger contracts. So Spida is protected like other scorers. So stop the whining and learn to close. Rudy got hiss Huns haded to him by Embiid. No one fears the Jazz. So stop acting like whinny 10 yr olds. Cause now they fear you less. Win by 10 ……. try that
Yup. Gobert should expand his game and stop being a boring big.
Philly was able to play aggressively and get the calls. The Jazz, being primarily a 3 point team, were not given the same calls.
Mitchell is nothin’ but a cry baby, maybe if he was even half as good as Simmons, they would win more!
Gobert is just such a terrible defender, you look at him playin’ against Embiid, Jokic or KAT they always completely obliterate the man, Gobert can’t play D for his life.
That is why UTA are a great candidate to be out in the R1WC, it will be surprising to see them in the R2WC, but that is their ceiling for the next few years at their very best, right?
I said the exact same thing about Gobert. He’s overrated. A little better than Capella, but still predictable. With four minutes or less with the game on the line is he really a factor? The man shoots 60% from the foul line. What an absolute joke! At least develop a hook shot,jump shot and better shooting from the free throw line! But no, instead he got paid and is still a boring big, with no expansion to his game.
Simmons stuck it to him the first time they played.
Like that bs jump into Curry that Mitchell did? Should have been an offensive foul. 2 points could come off the board right there.
Donovan having the balls to cry after this lol
Deacon (@DeaconWilliams2) Tweeted:
Donavan Mitchell wants to Complain about the refs when he did this
Literally Kicked his legs out to Hit Curry and it’s a Defensive Foul lol link to t.co link to twitter.com
L2M report:
– Embiid should have had 2 FTs at 1:14 left in 4th
– Should have been a Jazz TO with 1:03 left
– Simmons kick ball 1 min left
– Mitchell should have had 2 FTs with 40s left
– Should have been a Harris TO with 1:02 left in OT
– Gobert 3s second call on same possession.
Mitchell and Gobert need to grow up.
Gobert is a low-character individual.
Mitchell needs to get the chip off his shoulder and be a real pro and team leader.
No team with Gobert will ever win a championship if he’s being relied on.
Gobert is great, I can’t understand those ripping him. The Jazz are brilliantly crafted in roster construction and in terms of complimentary skill and depth…and IMO Gobert is the glue that holds it all together. On O his role is to get offensive boards and easy dunks w/ a high percentage which he does to the tune of 15 or so (off of the top of my head) a night. All the while the rest of the O is brilliantly paced w/long range shooting and a superb penetrator in Mitchell. On D he immediately improves the team D leaving 4 mediocre defenders to never (never) have to double inside, meaning while they lead the league or close to it in 3’s attempted they also give up near the least in open 3’s largely due to Gobert controlling the paint, where they also are near the best in the league. Meaning they give up more midrange 2’s the worst percentage shot in the NBA ppp…again largely because of Gobert. You mention 3 guys he struggles with (probably not the right word), but really everyone struggles with them. He made Jo work hard for all of those points.
Refs should not call kicking out or lurching into a defender a defensive foul, but they do, so it’s not unfair when they call it; it’s just incompetent or a bad philosophy. It should have been fixed years ago but no.
Refs are also too sensitive about a player hitting the floor… that doesn’t mean the whistle has to be blown. Again, old problem never fixed.
But the claim is Leonard was being grabbed which is personal.
Anyway the game is a nice setup if they meet in the finals. Might bet on Utah if Philly got their way here but barely won!