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A whistle-happy officiating crew took centerstage during the Brooklyn Nets' 100-92 loss to the Orlando Magic on Sunday at Barclays Center. The game saw 60 fouls called, over twenty higher than the league average this season (38.8).
As they did during Friday's loss to the Magic, the Nets struggled offensively with leading scorer Cam Thomas sidelined. They shot 30-of-79 (38 percent) from the field, and with the game slowed to a snail's pace by fouls, they mustered just 8-of-31 (26 percent) from three.
Jordi Fernandez had choice words for the officials during the fourth quarter of the loss. The Nets head coach expanded on his displeasure postgame.
“Fouls are a big part of the game. There's not much I can say. The game is judged by three people, and then we all got to go with it, and whatever happens, happens,” Fernandez said. “There's a lot of frustration from the players and myself. The only thing I can do is ask my players not to complain and keep going. And if they're going to call our fouls, if they are fouls, we are going to own it, then we're going to move on to the next possession. So we're going to keep fighting, whether it's against five [players] or more [than that].”
The officiating did not favor the Magic from a free-throw perspective. Orlando attempted 31 compared to Brooklyn's 30. However, the frequent foul calls made it harder for the Nets, who were giving up size at nearly every position, to match their opponent's physicality.
Nets voice displeasures with officials following loss to Magic
With Day'Ron Sharpe, Noah Clowney and Dorian Finney-Smith already sidelined, the Nets lost Ben Simmons midway through the game due to a knee injury. Brooklyn lost the rebounding battle 52-33 with only Nic Claxton available at center.
Simmons also took exception to the officiating's impact during the loss.
“There were too many fouls,” he said. “The refs were blowing the whistle too much. They were having too much of an impact on the game… It's the NBA, we gotta be physical.”
Despite their gripes with the officials, the Nets made an imprint defensively throughout the loss. They forced 22 turnovers and held Magic star Franz Wagner to 20 points on 4-of-17 shooting.
However, Orlando's length and physicality had an even greater impact against Brooklyn's shorthanded offense. The Nets failed to generate consistent looks at the rim, scoring 38 points in the paint compared to 54 for the Magic.
Dennis Schroder struggled out of the gate while shouldering a massive load as Brooklyn's go-to offensive creator. He finished with 20 points and six assists on 6-of-17 shooting.
Cam Johnson led the Nets with 26 points on 9-of-17 shooting. He offered a more nuanced opinion on the officiating postgame.
“I’ll just say one thing: I am not envious of the officials’ job in an environment like that where you can probably call a foul on every play,” Johnson said when asked about the game's physicality. “Where do you draw the line? Which ones do you call? Which ones do you not call? It’s very tough because it’s a physical game, and we feel we’re being grabbed, so we fight right back. You just can't call them all. So I’m not gonna say [anything negative], I’m not gonna risk dollars like that.
But it was a tough-fought game. They’re fighting, they’re complaining. We’re fighting, we’re complaining. You're just trying to get your case heard. Just trying to let the referees understand what you’re feeling and seeing. But that physicality, it was the focal point of the game.”
