The New York Knicks lost a close one to the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday, but head coach Tom Thibodeau is not blaming his team for falling short. Instead, he made it clear the officiating made the biggest difference in the game.

Thibodeau is “pissed” after the contest, emphasizing to reporters that it was the free throw discrepancy in the game that doomed them.

“I want to watch the film but something’s not right. Julius was driving the ball pretty darn hard and I’m pissed…Thank you,” the Knicks coach said, referencing Randle two free throw attempts in the game despite consistently attacking the rim (per Marc Berman of the New York Post).

Sure enough, Tom Thibodeau has a reason to get mad. After all, the Nets had 25 free throw attempts and made 22 of those. As for the Knicks, they had 12 and made 11.

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The game ended 112-110 in the Nets' favor, and to be fair to the Knicks, it could have gone their way if the free throw disparity was not that large.

Making this even more frustrating for the Knicks, Julius Randle revealed in his postgame presser that the referees told him he's not getting calls because he is stronger than his defenders and the contact is not affecting him. Yikes!

“That's not how you're supposed to referee a game,” Randle added, per Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News.
Given their reactions and blatant criticism to officiating, Thibodeau could expect to be fined by the NBA. However, they surely have sent their message that they want changes when it comes to refereeing.