David Fizdale was critical of the Game 2 referees after the Memphis Grizzlies were unable to complete a 19-point comeback in the second half.
"It's unfortunate that I've got a guy like [point guard] Mike Conley that in his whole career has got zero technical fouls and just cannot seem to get the proper respect from the officials that he deserves," Fizdale said. "It was a very poorly officiated basketball game."
Kawhi Leonard attempted more free throws than the entire Memphis squad (13-of-15). San Antonio as a team connected on 31 of 32 from the free throw line.
"Zach Randolph, the most rugged guy in the game, had zero free throws," Fizdale said as he stared down at the box score from Monday's game. "But somehow, Kawhi Leonard had 19 free throws. First half, we shot 19 shots in the paint, and we had six free throws. They shot 11 times in the paint, and they had 23 free throws. I'm not a numbers guy, but that doesn't seem to add up. Overall, 35 times we shot the ball in the paint. We had 15 free throws for the game. They shot 18 times in the paint and had 32 free throws. Kawhi shot more free throws than our whole team. Explain it to me."
The Grizzlies were called for 22 fouls compared to 13 for the Spurs.
"We don't get the respect that these guys deserve because Mike Conley doesn't go crazy. He has class, and he just plays the game," Fizdale said. "But I'm not gonna let them treat us that way. I know Pop's got pedigree, and I'm a young rookie. But they're not gonna rook us. That's unacceptable. That was unprofessional. Our guys dug in that game and earned the right to be in that game. And they did not even give us a chance."
As Fizdale finished his thought, he slammed a pen to the table and stood up.
"Take that for data," he said.
