John Wall was utterly frustrated after a Game 1 defeat at the hands of the Toronto Raptors, one in which he shot a ghastly 6-of-20 from the floor, despite leading his team with a gaudy 23 points and 15 assists.
The Washington Wizards' dime maestro attributed his seven of his “easy” misses to the lack of calls on the floor, even after going 8-of-10 from the stripe on Saturday night.
Wall noted the officials admitted to missing some calls during half-time.
“They came to me at halftime and said they missed two to three of them,” said Wall, according to Candace Buckner of The Washington Post. “I’d rather you not tell me about it. Just like the last two-minute report. I’d rather you not tell me about it.”
While the competitive nature is surely the main ingredient of Wall's frustration with the officials, the refs were only trying to bridge the divide between players and officials with a moment of candor — but that means little when it could potentially cost a player like Wall a game.
Besides his shooting, Wall's play was stellar on defense, coming up with four steals and two blocks to round his performance. But that hasn't kept Wall's eyes away from the officiating.
“I watched the game yesterday, a ref had reffed our game and was calling so much ticky-tack,” said Wall.
Scott Foster and Tony Brothers officiated both Wizards-Raptors and last night's game between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Miami Heat, but that won't make a difference from what to expect for Game 2 tonight at the Air Canada Centre.
“It's nothing I can control about that. As a basketball player, I don't make excuses,” said Wall. “I just got to do a better job of finishing plays around the rim.”
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