Julius Randle noted during his NBA All-Star Game media availability that “something needs to change” in regards to NBA referees’ performance, and now-infamously went after an official at the end of last week’s Nets-Knicks game for a traveling call that the NBA backed up as the right call.
Well, Randle and the Knicks were victimized again Sunday night, with a late foul call in overtime perhaps the catalyst towards a 101-100 loss. The Knicks led by two with six seconds left, but as Nerlens Noel rebounded a missed layup, Randle was called for a loose-ball foul on Tobias Harris.
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"Wrong call by the officials," Randle said after the game. "Not enough contact for them to call the play. After all the fouling and everything that was going on, for them to call that and decide the game is f-ing ridiculous. They have to do a better job. It's too many games like this."
Referees said Randle pushed Harris – a call neither Randle nor coach Tom Thibodeau agreed with – and Thibodeau tried to challenge, but crew chief Courtney Kirkland told the media that the attempted challenge of the play came too late to be recognized.
"Coach Thibodeau did not signal for a challenge during the same interaction with the officials. In order to initiate a challenge, the coach must signal for a challenge during the same interaction, and he did not do so," Kirkland said.
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Bad officiating on two fronts, according to the coach.
“Usually, at the end of the game, there's going to be, as they would say, marginal contact, incidental contact, every other kind of contact. All I know is that we were getting hit a lot, and there wasn't marginal contact on that (foul),” Thibodeau said. “Two officials, tough calls; that's all I'm going to say about it. It's pretty obvious."
The game, which was being officiated with only two referees due to COVID-19 health and safety protocols, ended when Harris made both free throws on the other end, and Randle missed a jumper at the buzzer.
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