Isaiah Thomas feels slighted by the referees.
Following the Boston Celtics’ 121-102 loss to the Washington Wizards on Sunday, the All-Star floor general bemoaned the officiating, largely because he didn’t attempt a free throw.
Here’s a video of him assessing the issue, per SI.com’s Ben Golliver:
Celtics' Isaiah Thomas: "I might have hit the ground 5 or 6 straight times… It's gotta be called differently… I don't even shoot one FT" pic.twitter.com/z2lMBcbF9o
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) May 8, 2017
Thomas attempted 11 free throws in Game 3; 13 in Game 2; and seven in Game 1. There were a few instances where he hit the floor after contact on Sunday, and the refs did seem like they were light on the whistle whenever John Wall was attacking the basket. But this series has been an extremely physical one–a tenor that shapes how games are officiated. Refs might not be as quick to blow their whistles when they’re just trying to call games within the ebbs and flow of the matchup.
Plus, there wasn’t a huge free-throw disparity overall. The Celtics attempted 24 freebies to the Wizards’ 27. On a macro level, this isn’t enough to infer anything sinister.
Is it weird that, in 31 minutes, Thomas didn’t attempt a single free throw? Absolutely. He averaged more than nine per 36 minutes during the regular season and still checks in over 8.5 per 36 minutes in the playoffs. If he wants to draw attention to this foul-line bagel to ensure other refs are aware of it in later games, good for him. But even a lopsidedly officiated game on Sunday wouldn’t account for the 19-point drubbing his team suffered.
That’s on Boston’s disaster of a third quarter.
