Pistons' Bickerstaff Criticizes Refs After 'Unacceptable' Game 4 Loss to Cavs, 'Whistle Has Changed'

Detroit Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff was not pleased with the officials following his team's Game 4 loss against the Detroit Pistons on Monday night.

"It's unacceptable," he told reporters regarding the 34-12 disparity in free-throw attempts that went in favor of Cleveland. "It is. We didn't do enough, obviously to help ourselves, and I'll start there. But ever since we came to Cleveland, the whistle has changed. There's no way that one guy on their team shoots more free throws than our team. We're not a settle team, we're not a jump-shooting team. We drive the ball, attack the paint. So what was done out there tonight, it's frustrating, but we can't allow that to be the reason why, because we didn't play well enough and play to the best of our capabilities. But you look at the foul count, you look at the disparity, and that's hard to overcome. And you wonder why."

Donovan Mitchell alone had 15 attempts from the charity stripe, three more than the entirety of the Pistons. Cleveland ultimately scored 30 of points from the free-throw line in a 112-103 victory, evening the series at two games apiece.

It didn't help Detroit's cause that Mitchell had a second half for the ages:

Whether the NBA league office views Bickerstaff's comments kindly remains to be seen. Publicly criticizing referees is generally frowned upon. But he certainly has a point.