The Toronto Raptors lost to Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday afternoon, and DeMar DeRozan had a lot of feelings. The game was tied several times down the stretch. It was anyone's game. Thunder star Russell Westbrook had a triple-double. It was a truly exciting matchup for a game in mid-March.
But then, Kyle Lowry committed an offensive foul that marked his sixth of the game. Later, DeRozan got called for a technical foul. Then he got called for a second technical and was ejected.
Moments later, Raptors head coach Dwane Casey was also ejected. The consensus of that was that the referees heard something a fan said, though Casey said it, and then ejected Casey.
All in all, the Raptors lost the game and had a lot of complaining to do about the referees. DeRozan was one of the most upset ones, per Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports.
“No, we’re used to going against the odds… It’s been like that. We fight through it, but as soon as we say something, we’re the bad guys, we get fined, we get criticized… but we’ve all got a breaking point & it’s frustrating.”
Look. Referees are humans, and they make mistakes. Those mistakes have been somewhat mitigated by the instant replay system and the Last Two Minutes reports, but still, it happens. That's not the reason the Raptors lost to the Thunder, though.
Lowry had fouled out on a legitimate offensive foul. In fact, the Raptors' beat writers acknowledged it on Twitter.
Yes, DeRozan got ejected, and so did Serge Ibaka. But those calls weren't for nothing. They were complaining to a referee that was already frustrated with how the Raptors were reacting to calls. As a player, you have to recognize that.
For his comments, DeRozan is sure to be penalized. It won't be the first time this season, either.
DeRozan has already been fined $59K this year. 15K for criticizing, $25K for the Dragic incident, $19K for his 8 technicals.
— Blake Murphy (@BlakeMurphyODC) March 18, 2018
The arena full of Raptors fans booed the referees as they left the court — they were even escorted by security. Fine. They're rooting for their team, who just lost. It's understandable.
But it's not fair to pin it all on the refs. Westbrook had a monster game and the Thunder made plays when all the Raptors did was complain about not getting calls. That's not the way you win basketball games.
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