Detroit coach J.B. Bickerstaff made waves Saturday night when he tore into the officiating in the Pistons' loss vs. the Oklahoma City Thunder, a heated post-match rant that ended with him crumpling up the box score and storming off after answering just one question from reporters.
"The level of disrespect was above and beyond," Bickerstaff said. "They have a guy fall down and trip on his own teammate's foot. They review us for a hostile act. They throw an elbow to our chest and neck area, I ask for them to at least take a look at it. Just show us the respect to take a look at it. O.K. No one would take a look at it. The disrespect has gone far enough."
Commenting on those complaints after the fact, Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said he had actually told his guys ahead of time to prepare for fewer calls from that particular officiating unit.
"We do analytics on every referee crew and that referee crew was the loosest whistle coming into the game that we'd seen all season in terms of how little they call," Daigneault said. "And so we knew. We told the guys before the game, 'This is going to be a physical game because it's Detroit and they're not going to call very much.' And that bore out, I thought, with the amount of physicality they allowed in the game. And I thought our guys did a great job of not getting distracted by anything and just playing the next play, not getting caught up in anything other than trying to compete and win."
Mark Daigneault, in talking about Bickerstaff’s evaluation of the officiating, said he told the team to prepare for the crew’s loose whistle based on their own analytics.
— Joel Lorenzi (@JoelXLorenzi) March 16, 2025
“That crew was the loosest whistle coming into the game that we’ve seen all season in terms of how little… pic.twitter.com/0Vx6pgz3lI
During the 113-107 loss, which also saw the Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander drop 48 points and shoot ten free throws, Pistons star Cade Cunningham received two technicals and was ejected, while guard Dennis Schroeder was hit with one. Both fouls were as a result of arguing with the refs.
The Pistons are now on a two-game losing streak, but will have a chance to snap it come Monday, when they travel to play the New Orleans Pelicans.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Thunder Said They Knew to Expect 'Loose' Officiating After J.B. Bickerstaff Rant.
