Magic news: Steve Clifford blasts officiating vs. Knicks after not being granted a timeout

The Orlando Magic's Steve Clifford blasted the officiating after the team's loss to the New York Knicks. The referees missed a timeout from Clifford.

It was a bitter pill to swallow for Steve Clifford and the Orlando Magic that they lost to the New York Knicks of all teams. However, the thing that makes Clifford more mad than anything was the poor officiating his team had to endure during the game.

There were only two points separating the two teams at the end of the game. Yahoo Sports' Keith Smith reported that Clifford was trying to call a timeout before the clock expired, but the lack of acknowledgment frustrated him to no end.

Steve Clifford is losing his mind and rightly so. He was trying to call a timeout and none of the officials saw it. Knicks win. Bad loss for the Magic.

— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) February 7, 2020

The Athletic's Mike Vorkunov followed up with another report of the situation: an Orlando assistant tried to prevent Clifford from getting suspended by taking him away from the referees.

Steve Clifford is quite angry and animated on the court after the buzzer rings on the Magic's loss to the Knicks. An assistant gets in the way as Clifford harangues the referees while walking off the court.

— Mike Vorkunov (@MikeVorkunov) February 7, 2020

He let out his frustrations to the game officials during the post-game interviews, not holding back on the words he wanted to say to the game officials. In his eyes, the three men cost them the W.

Per Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press:

“There’s three of them. There’s a guy on the baseline and I just saw it. I mean, visibly I called timeout. I don’t understand how that timeout’s not called. That may cost me, I don’t care.”

The turn of events was definitely regretful as the Magic did put up a great game against the Knicks. After going behind by 13 points during the second quarter, the team fought back to wrestle control of the game. However, the Knicks managed to do just enough to seal the game away from their opponents.

The Orlando starters played great during the game. Nikola Vucevic finished with 25 points, eight rebounds, three assists, one steal, and three blocks. Markelle Fultz, Evan Fournier, and Aaron Gordon all finished with 16 points each. However, the rest of the Orlando roster wasn't able to help enough to win them the game.