Raise your hand if you tuned into these NBA playoffs hoping for an epic battle of the referees.
No? Well, that’s the way it’s going in the Memphis-Minnesota series.
To put it simply, the refs are stealing the show. The first quarter of Tuesday’s Game 2 took north of 40 minutes to complete thanks to the guys wearing stripes’ insistence on blowing their whistles. In totality, 20 fouls were called and a staggering 33 free throws were attempted through the first 12 minutes of play. Flargrants, technicals, charges, blocking fouls — you name it, it was called.
And that opening quarter of Game 2 wasn’t a first. The first frame of Game 1 was quite similar — 18 fouls and 19 free throws combined between the two teams.
What’s the deal? Are the referees going to start to relax with all the foul calls as we move forward with the series? We’ll have to wait and see.
But needless to say, NBA Twitter is all over the officials for their performances thus far.
The refs.
— KJ (@kelwright) April 20, 2022
There’s been 8 fouls, 1 flagrant, and 1 technical foul called so far in this Timberwolves-Grizzlies game.
We’re just 3 minutes in…
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) April 20, 2022
2 days ago: 18 fouls in the 1Q
Tonight: 20 fouls in the 1Q pic.twitter.com/Wc1fDPxO84
— StatMuse (@statmuse) April 20, 2022
Grizzlies-Timberwolves 1st quarter summary:
65 points scored
20 fouls called
27 free throws made
33 free throws attempted pic.twitter.com/ShSexaNOh1— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) April 20, 2022
The referees are the main characters in like every playoff game I watch
— lucas (thousand night off-season edition) (@LucasJHann) April 20, 2022
We have doubled up free throws to minutes here
— Mark Schindler (@MG_Schindler) April 20, 2022
After one quarter, Timberwolves-Grizzlies has 20 fouls.
And if you're reading this, the refs have also given you a foul. sorry
— SB Nation (@SBNation) April 20, 2022
Hey, @nba, come get these refs in line in Memphis. No one is enjoying this.
— Jeffrey Wright (@JWright929espn) April 20, 2022
