Zen Mistress Blames Loss on Refs

June 2008

Zen Mistress Blames Loss on Refs

By halftime, the differential in free throw numbers between the Lakers and Celtics was staggering.

The Celtics made 19 trips to the line, the Lakers 2



The final margin in free throw attempts was 38-10 in favor of the Celtics. The numbers prompted some strong words from Lakers coach Phil Jackson and sarcasm from Kobe Bryant

"I think my players got fouled," said Jackson. "I have no question about the fact that my players got fouled but didn't get to the line. Specifically, I can enumerate a few things, but I'm not going to get into that. I don't want to get into a dispute with those situations

"It's the illusion that's created. The referees referee an illusion. Our guys look like maybe the ball was partially stripped when they were getting raked or whatever was happening, but it was in the crowd, so the referees have to let that type of thing go

"We have to create the spacing that gives the right impression, and that will have to get accomplished."

Jackson credited the aggressiveness of the Celtics leading to more trips to the foul line. When Bryant was asked about the free throw disparity, he said, "I didn't notice it." Then he gave a look that underscored his sarcasm

Doing right thing

Jackson wondered aloud if nearly a weeklong delay between the Lakers wrapping up the Western Conference title and starting the Finals affected their offense in Thursday night's loss.

"Shooting-wise, I think sometimes that comes and goes, and a lot of times that's evident in the first game if you sat for a week like we did," said Jackson. "But I thought our shooting in the first half [of Game 1] was there. We shot 51 percent. We did the right thing. I thought their defense stepped up. There were a lot of in-and-out shots. That's a product of this building and their standards."