Austin Reaves called the veteran official John Goble “disrespectful” and engaged in a discussion after the final whistle. It was not only the Lakers that had a problem with the referee, as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander felt his flagrant foul call was also inaccurate. Similarly, the Oklahoma City Thunder‘s head coach was equally vocal about his issues, but their issues never got addressed, despite asking for a meeting.

Senior NBA reporter Sam Amick was courtside at Paycom Center and revealed that the media seats gave him the best view of the entire officiating drama. He “heard every single word,” including the NSFW comments from Austin Reaves. But that was not his favorite part. “My favorite part was the Thunder were watching all the Lakers around the refs and having a little bit of FOMO, clearly,” Amick said on Run It Back. “And then Shai, I could hear him. He looks at, I think, Ben Taylor, and he kind of shouts,’ Hey, Ben, can we get a meeting too?'” He called the entire drama “crazy”.

Yes, multiple calls didn’t go in the Lakers’ favor. And Goble was out of line, as Reaves described that during the jump ball, a lot of players were constantly changing positions. But when AR tried to do it, the referee “turned around and yelled in my face.” It was the whole reason for him to approach the officials after the final whistle. While he got to say his piece, the OKC never approached the refs, as it is customary for teams to exchange pleasantries and go back to the locker room. Even Shai Gilgeous-Alexander felt his flagrant was uncalled for.

Early in the third quarter on Thursday night, the current MVP received a flagrant 1 foul for seemingly hitting Austin Reaves and dragging him down by the elbow. By then, tempers had already flared, and it was SGA’s career first flagrant foul. “I didn’t get an explanation. But I also didn’t ask. I’m not going to be able to change the call, so I didn’t really care. I felt like he was hung around me, and I just tried to get loose. Our arms got caught. Unfortunate. Yeah, I didn’t mean to hurt him (Austin), obviously. But it’s the way it goes. I got a flagrant. It is what it is. We move on.”

Though Reaves’ arms were around the Thunder superstar at the start, Gilgeous-Alexander very clearly locked AR up. He was also in foul trouble for the entire game as he had 4 during the third frame. OKC in total had committed 26 fouls, 5 more than the Lakers, and even Mark Daigneault had his say on the entire drama.

“My interactions with the officials are between me and them,” said the head coach. “I have plenty to say to them, I’m going to keep it there. I thought our team did a really good job of staying present and just focusing on the next controllable. We just played a possession-by-possession.” A very stark and opposite reaction from what the Lakers had during the game and after the final whistle.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander appreciates the help

The current MVP has dropped just 40 points in two games so far. He has not been at his best, and Thursday’s foul trouble did him no favors. But without him, the OKC still managed to decimate the rivals. The Lakers had a 66-61 lead when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander went to the bench with his fourth foul at 10:34 of the third quarter. But when SGA re-entered the game at the start of the fourth quarter, the Thunder led 93-80. It was on the back of a 32-14 Thunder run and the star player had flowers for his teammates.

“It was amazing,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “They strung together stops. I have full confidence in those guys. They know how to win basketball games. They’ve proven that. No matter who’s on the floor, they know how to get the job done.” Their bench has outscored the Lakers’ reserves 82-35 through two games. And more than calls, OKC also dominated in other areas.

They outscored Los Angeles 38-17 in second-chance points and 46-32 in points off turnovers. They are doing it without the All-NBA talent Jalen Williams. Recent updates confirmed that he has officially been ruled out for Game 3 with a hamstring strain. He’s now missed five consecutive playoff games with the injury. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder would hope they continue their streak on Saturday at the Crypto.com Arena.