LOS ANGELES (AFP) – Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr hit back at criticism of NBA officiating on Monday after the Houston Rockets complained of a series of missed calls in their game one playoff loss.
Rockets star James Harden claimed officials missed a series of foul calls on Sunday as Houston slid to a 104-100 defeat against the Warriors in Oakland.
Harden – a vocal critic of the officiating all season – suggested refs had not given the Rockets a “fair chance” during the loss, citing several non-calls on his three-point attempts.
“Call the game how it’s supposed to be called, and that’s it. And I’ll live with the results,” Harden grumbled.
However, Kerr was unimpressed with the Rockets criticism on Monday, and risked stoking tensions ahead of Game 2 on Tuesday by suggesting players were trying to cheat refs by deliberately drawing contact.
“It’s disappointing because the focus should be on two teams playing extremely hard,” Kerr told reporters.
PAUL FINED $35k
Meanwhile, the league slapped Rockets guard Chris Paul with a $35,000 fine on Monday for ‘’aggressively confronting and recklessly making contact with a game official.’’
Houston’s Paul bumped referee Josh Tiven in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game. Paul was upset that there was no loose ball foul called on Golden State’s Klay Thompson.
