After Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau griped about a "huge discrepancy in free throws" in his team's 100-94 loss to the Pistons on Monday that evened their first-round playoff series at one game apiece as it shifts to Detroit, J.B. Bickerstaff said Wednesday, "We’re happy with the way the games are being called. We can survive physicality, so we’ve got no issue with it."
The Pistons shot 34 free throws to the Knicks' 19 in Game 2, but Thibodeau was particularly frustrated with what he viewed as an imbalance in officiating between Jalen Brunson and Cade Cunningham -- even though Cunningham was awarded 12 free throws to Brunson's 11.
"I don't understand how on one side you talk about direct-line drives, the guy is getting fouled and it's not being called," Thibodeau said. "And look, I don't really give a crap how they call the game, as long as it's consistent on both sides. So if Cunningham is driving and there is marginal contact and he is getting to the line, then Jalen deserves to be getting to the line. It's really that simple."
Through two games, Brunson has taken 21 free throws to Cunningham's 17.
"When you look at the comparisons between the guys who are handling the ball the majority of the time, their guy is (second in) the league right now in playoff free throw attempts, Cade is (fourth). So the fouls are being called how they’re being called, but again, I love the whistle. Let the referees keep calling the game the way they’ve been calling it. It gives us an opportunity to defend, and our guys can play through it."
Defense has been the Pistons' calling card all season. They ratcheted up the physicality in Game 2 and held the Knicks to their fewest points in their last 12 home playoff games. Asked if he's sensed the officials being more lenient in the name of playoff basketball, Bickerstaff said with a laugh, "If I tell you the true answer to that, I’d get in trouble."
"But no, there’s a level of physicality that the playoffs bring and there’s always been that. Again, it’s the teams that can survive it that are going to end up winning in the end, and I think our guys have done a great job of maintaining their composure," Bickerstaff said. "We haven’t changed how we play."
He went on to say that "Cade drives to the basket as much as anybody in this league and draws as much contact as anybody in this league ... so we talk about a guy who deserves more whistles, it’s easy to see why Cade gets the contact, but he plays through it. And again, that’s a credit to his toughness and character."