The Clippers were called for 27
fouls compared to 32 for the Spurs,
but during the third quarter, the
Spurs shot more free throws (18)
than the Clippers (17) as the Spurs
intentionally fouled DeAndre
Jordan; sending him to the line 10
times. The Clippers missed 16 free
throws while the Spurs missed just
nine.
"I don't know, it's just -- listen, the
refs are trying hard, too, but God
darn," Rivers said. "Even [Chris
Paul] 's tech, I still don't have the
explanation for that, and I want to
find that out because when they
make a shot, you have to throw it to
the ref to get the ball back, and he
got a tech for it. I'm just not sure
of some things."
Clippers players weren't as
interested in talking about the
officiating after the game, with
some saying they would rather not
get fined, but they were clearly
upset by the calls made by the crew
of Scott Foster, Bill Kennedy and
Josh Tiven.
"I've got a team in there that
played their heart out, and they're
frustrated a little bit," Rivers said.
"They're frustrated at themselves
because, at the end of the day, it's
always our fault. But they're
frustrated at other stuff, too, and in
a game like that with that
magnitude, there should be no
frustration that way at all."
While Rivers was frustrated with the
officiating, he believes the referees
got the offensive goaltending call
right at the end of the game when
Jordan's tip-in off of a Griffin shot
looked like it was going to give the
Clippers the lead with 4.9 seconds
left.
"I thought it was the right call,"
Rivers said. "I couldn't tell, you
know, and I didn't see it. I couldn't
see the video, so I don't know, but
I thought it was the right call. I
hope to God it was the right call.
You have people in Newark [at the
NBA's replay center] looking at it,
so you're hoping that somebody saw
it. You've got to put your trust in
them."