JJ Redick said that while the Lakers' loss to Portland wasn't solely due to referees, inconsistent officiating -- a trend he's noticed all season -- was a factor in the game.
The Los Angeles Lakers are struggling through a rough patch. On Saturday night, they fell 132-116 to the Portland Trail Blazers on the road, marking their ninth loss in 14 games.
Los Angeles Lakers / Schedule
One factor in the loss was a depleted roster, including the absence of top NBA scorer Luka Doncic.
Some might point to the referees as another reason, though Lakers coach JJ Redick downplayed that explanation, while acknowledging that officiating has been inconsistent this season.
The Lakers attempted 21 free throws, while Portland went to the line 34 times.
"I mean, there's always gonna be fouls," Redick said. "You can sit there and go through and watch every single one, and I do it sometimes. I watch film, and I'll watch a play, and I'll wait a minute -- let me rewind that: zoom in, slow it down.
"And you're like, yeah, the officials don't have that luxury," Redick went on to say. "So, it's more about the way the game is called. They got off to a bad start tonight. And they admitted that to me.
"Then, they kind of just were all over the map. You know, making calls and not actually making a call. That happened multiple times, where we have to go over, 'What's going on? What's the actual call here?' Couldn't get great communication all night, which we'll put in the coach's feedback. It was interesting.
"It's not to single them out, or it's not the reason we lost," the coach added. "It's just for whatever reason. And if you have to ask, probably the other 29 coaches, it feels like the inconsistency night-to-night within a game has been there for most of these crews."
The Lakers are now 24-16 on the season and will host the Toronto Raptors on Sunday.
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