By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
The Los Angeles Lakers expressed profound frustration with the officiating following their loss to the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 2 of the Western Conference Semifinals on Thursday, with Austin Reaves detailing a specific second-half confrontation with an official that left him feeling targeted.
“I felt like I was respectful to all of them all night. A million times in the past, I’ve said way worse stuff,” mentioned the 27-year-old guard during his postgame media session following the 2026 NBA Playoffs, presented by Google, contest. “And when we were doing the whole tip ball, and they were switching spots, I wanted to get on the other side because they had a guy on the other side who was just trying to keep an advantage. And he turned around and yelled in my face. I just thought it was disrespectful. The whole time that was going on over there, I don’t think he said much to them.”
“We’re grown men, and I just didn’t feel like he needed to yell in my face like that. I told him that. I wasn’t disrespectful. I told him if I did that to him first, I would’ve gotten a tech. I feel like the only reason I didn’t get a tech was because he knew he was in the wrong. I felt disrespected,” added Reaves.
Head coach JJ Redick echoed this sentiment, highlighting the lack of calls for LeBron James. The former player argued that James’ physical stature often works against him when officials are making split-second decisions.
“LeBron has the worst whistle of any star player I’ve ever seen,” he said. “There’s, again, the smaller guys, because they can be theatrical, they typically draw more fouls than the bigger players that are built like LeBron. It’s hard for them that he gets clobbered. He got clobbered again tonight, a bunch. That’s not like a new thing. That’s not specific to this crew or this series. He gets fouled a lot. Doesn’t happen. They’re hard enough to play. You’ve got to be able to just call them if they foul, and they do foul.”
When asked how the officiating factored into the scoring runs the Thunder used to pull away, or why he believes he receives such a difficult whistle, 41-year-old James remained terse. “We’re down 2-0,” the four-time NBA champion noted, simply adding “I don’t know” regarding his lack of free-throw attempts.
The Lakers now return home to crypto.com Arena for Game 3 of the best-of-seven series this Saturday, still facing the challenge of a 2–0 deficit and the continued absence of Slovenian superstar Luka Doncic.
NBA Playoffs 2026
Eastern Conference
Quarterfinals (best-of-seven)
Detroit Pistons – Orlando Magic 4-3 (101-112, 98-83, 105-113, 88-94, 116-109, 93-79, 116-94)
Cleveland Cavaliers – Toronto Raptors 4-3 (126-113, 115-105, 104-126, 89-93, 125-120, 110-112, 114-102)
New York Knicks – Atlanta Hawks 4-2 (113-102, 106-107, 108-109, 114-98, 126-97, 140-89)
Boston Celtics – Philadelphia 76ers 3-4 (123-91, 97-111, 108-100, 128-96, 97-113, 93-106, 100-109)
Semifinals (best-of-seven)
Detroit Pistons – Cleveland Cavaliers 2-0 (111-101, 107-97)
New York Knicks – Philadelphia 76ers 2-0 (137-98, 108-102)
Finals (best-of-seven)
Winners of Semifinals
Western Conference
Quarterfinals (best-of-seven)
Oklahoma City Thunder – Phoenix Suns 4-0 (119-84, 120-107, 121-109, 131-122)
Los Angeles Lakers – Houston Rockets 4-2 (107-98, 101-94, 112-108, 96-115, 93-99, 98-78)
Denver Nuggets – Minnesota Timberwolves 2-4 (126-115, 114-119, 96-113, 96-112, 125-113, 98-110)
San Antonio Spurs – Portland Trail Blazers 4-1 (111-98, 103-106, 120-108, 114-93, 114-95)
Semifinals (best-of-seven)
Oklahoma City Thunder – Los Angeles Lakers 2-0 (108-90, 125-107)
San Antonio Spurs – Minnesota Timberwolves 1-1 (102-104, 133-95)
Finals (best-of-seven)
Winners of Semifinals
NBA Finals 2026 (best-of-seven)
Eastern Conference and Western Conference champions