Toronto coach Darko Rajakovic on Tuesday went on a furious, table-pounding tirade against the officiating after the Los Angeles Lakers shot 23 free throws in the fourth quarter of a 132-131 win over the Raptors.
Rajakovic, Toronto’s first-year Serbian head coach, ripped the game’s free throw disparity after Anthony Davis scored 20 of his 41 points in the fourth quarter, while going 11 for 11 at the line in the final period. Davis shot 14 of the Lakers’ 36 free throws in the game, while the entire Toronto roster shot only 13.
“It’s outrageous. What happened tonight, this is completely BS,” Rajakovic said. “This is shame. Shame for the referees. Shame for the league to allow this. Twenty-three free throws for them, and we get two free throws in the fourth quarter? Like, how to play the game? I understand respect for All-Stars and all that, but we have star players on our team as well.”
Photo: AP
“How [is it] possible that Scottie Barnes, who is All-Star-caliber player in this league, he goes every single time to the rim with force and trying to get to the rim without flopping and not trying to get foul calls, he gets two free throws for a whole game?” he added, slapping the table repeatedly for emphasis. “How is that possible? How are you going to explain that to me?”
Davis grabbed 11 rebounds and went 13 for 17 while carrying the Lakers down the stretch against the Raptors, who were missing injured starting center Jakob Poeltl. Davis completed his masterful performance by scoring 10 points in the final 1 minute, 1 second, including eight free throws without a miss, and making a key block on Barnes.
Rajakovic apparently felt the officials never gave his team a chance.
“They came to win tonight? If that’s the case, just let us know, so we don’t show up for the game,” Rajakovic said. “Just give them a win, but that was not fair tonight, and this is not happening first time for us. Scottie Barnes is gonna be [an] All-Star. He’s gonna be the face of this league, and what’s happening over here during whole season ... it’s complete crap.”
Barnes scored 26 points and Pascal Siakam had 25 for the Raptors, who lost for only the second time in five games since acquiring R.J. Barrett and Immanuel Quickley from New York for O.G. Anunoby. Barrett scored 23 points, and Quickley had 21 with four three-pointers for the Raptors, who lost to the Lakers on the road for just the second time in their past nine trips.
Rajakovic’s rant would likely earn him a significant fine from the NBA, but his players appeared to appreciate his verbal combativeness.
“It just says that he’s all for us as a family, as a team,” said Thaddeus Young, who scored 10 points as Toronto’s starting center. “We’re always going to stick together. We’re always going to be behind one another as a family, as a team. We’re always going to stick together, and he’s always been behind us since day one coming in here. We love Darko to death. We think the world of coach, and we definitely appreciate him going to bat for us.”
Elsewhere on Tuesday, the injury-riddled Memphis Grizzlies beat the Dallas Mavericks 120-103, the Minnesota Timberwolves tore down the Orlando Magic 113-92, the New York Knicks devastated the Portland Trail Blazers 112-84 and the Sacramento Kings outplayed the Detroit Pistons 131-110.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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