John Wall Criticizes Officials After Loss to Jazz
Washington Wizards star John Wall was not happy with the officiating following Friday's 95-88 loss against the Utah Jazz at Vivint Smart Home Arena.
"For one, I haven't been saying nothing to the refs lately because I know what situation I've been in, but the way they've been officiating today doesn't make no sense," Wall said, per Candace Buckner of the Washington Post. "To shoot 31 free throws to 16. We're an aggressive team that attacks the basket; that don't make no sense."
Wall wasn't done talking about the officials after discussing the free-throw disparity, noting how his forearm looked at the end of the game:
"I had to get this bandaged up because I’m bleeding and the ref told me ‘that’s not a foul.' It’s getting out of hand. If you want us to compete at a high level like we’ve been doing – we didn’t lose this game. The refs made us lose this game. We fought hard, we gave ourselves a chance but you don’t shoot no 31 free throws to 16 the way we attack the basket as a team. That’s how I feel about it. I tried to get some (technical fouls) rescinded before, it never works for my favor. Other players have and they got it. So, all I can do is just keep my mouth shut like I’ve been doing. I could see if I would’ve got a flagrant-1 but a technical off of that? That’s outrageous.
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During the contest, Wall received a controversial technical foul in the third quarter when he made contact with Rudy Gobert's groin area. The referees didn't originally call it a technical, but they reviewed the play for several minutes, saw Gobert appear to be in pain and changed the call.
Wall has had issues with technical fouls this season. He has 15 through 74 games played and is one away from receiving an automatic one-game suspension.
The Wizards were leading 51-47 at the time, but that seemed to turn the tide, as the Jazz closed the quarter on a 17-10 run to take a three-point lead into the fourth.
The Wizards fell to 46-30 after the loss and are now tied with the Toronto Raptors for the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference, three games behind the Boston Celtics for the top spot with six games to play in the 2016-17 campaign.
