-
Tim BontempsESPN
After Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell was hit by technical fouls in two separate moves in the final minute of overtime and was sent off with 30.5 seconds left in Utah’s 131-123 defeat by the Philadelphia 76ers, the All -Star said he is tired of Jazz being “screwed” by the referees, calling the way his team’s games are refereed “fucking ridiculous”.
“First of all, give credit to the 76ers. They played a difficult game. Joel [Embiid] did what he does and, after all, is a good team. We compete. But it is hard. It’s hard to go there and see how we fight and compete, and have a game like that taken from us, “said Mitchell on Wednesday night.
“Well, I never blame a referee, blaming an official – I can say I could have done more – but this is getting out of hand. There were games like this that we won, there were games like this that we lost. But this whole refereeing thing .. We’re nice, we don’t complain, like, we don’t get frustrated, we fight things, and the fact that we’re continually … screwed, in a way, for that.
“We won this game, in my personal opinion. You know? But, like I said, I’m going to give them credit. They won. Whatever. Cool. But it’s been a consistent thing, and the question is, ‘Can we? Can we support it? “Are we really number one? And yes, the hell we are. And it’s getting ridiculous, which is what’s going on.”
NBA leader Jazz, who controlled most of the game, ended up going into overtime after Embiid hit a 3-point basket for the 76ers with 6.5 seconds left and Mike Conley missed a floater on the buzzer that would have won for Utah.
Then, in overtime, after Tobias Harris scored four straight baskets for Philadelphia putting the Sixers in front, Mitchell was hit with his first technique with 57.5 seconds left when Embiid scored a foul inside Jazz Rudy’s center Gobert. Embiid happily made a “T” with his hands – pointing at Mitchell – as the referees called him.
On Utah’s next ball possession, Mitchell missed two shots – the first of which Gobert stole to keep Utah in possession – and, thinking he had been knocked over, Mitchell continued to bark at the officials.
He was then called up for the second technique with 30.5 seconds left, being ejected from the game in the process. As Mitchell left the court, he broke a water dispenser on the floor and then appeared to apologize to a security guard sitting next to him as he made his way to the visitors’ locker room at Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center.
“We have a whole second half of the season to face and prepare for, and I’m sick of it, to be honest with you,” said Mitchell. “We all are. This is something that just devours me. Devours me, man.
“Everyone knows what it is. We all know what it is. But it’s really getting out of control. It’s really, really, really getting out of control. And the league needs to do something about it.
“I want to see the last two-minute report. I want to see it. But it’s getting out of control.”
One thing that will be in the last two-minute report on Thursday is a call that was analyzed by the referees with just under 30 seconds to enter the regulation, when it looked like Royce O’Neale was called off the pitch after saving a ball lost. In the replay, it was clear that O’Neale did not go out of bounds.
However, the referees then said that the ball had left the field, keeping the ball with Philadelphia and confusing practically everyone who was watching. After the game, a pool report confirmed that the decision was made not because O’Neale left the field, but because the ball first hit a referee who was out of bounds – meaning that the ball had, in fact, left field boundaries.
And while this move ultimately did not affect the result, it will be of little consolation to Jazz, who were irritated as a result of being called for seven more fouls than Philadelphia and being at a significant disadvantage in free throws, with the Sixers going to 27 to 35 and Jazz going to just 14 to 19.
That disparity also drew the ire of Gobert, another Utah All-Star – who, like Mitchell, also won a certain NBA fine on Thursday after repeatedly calling officials during his own post-game media session.
“Our guys can’t get calls from everyone else in the league,” said Gobert. “We know we are Utah Jazz, and maybe some people don’t want to see us go as far as we can go, but it is disappointing.
“Three times in a row, Mike Conley is going to the edge and they are grabbing him right in front of the officers and there are no calls. And on the other side, there are invisible calls being made.
“I think it is disrespectful, to be honest, with the basketball game and with our team, and I hope they watch the game when they get home … I hope they feel ashamed when they watch the game.”
Gobert went on to say that he believed that Jazz was being treated unfairly because it played in a small market.
“I don’t want to say that,” said Gobert, “but I really do. After playing in this league for eight years, it’s a little bit more difficult [to be in a small market], and this is one of the things that we have to overcome. That’s why I said to the guys, ‘When you’re a small market, you have to be better than just better. You have to be elite and you have to control what you can control. ‘
“But it is very disappointing to be disrespected like that. … It is not just a move, because we all make mistakes. I have a lot of respect for the referees. It is a difficult job. I think they tried their best, but it was too obvious tonight. They they can’t make it so obvious. We are going to watch movies and do all this and keep improving, but we deserve more respect as a team and as human beings for all the work we do. “