Knicks suggest foul play in Game 4 loss to Heat
Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo (13) defends against New York Knicks forward Julius Randle (30) during the first half of Game 4 of the NBA basketball Eastern Conference playoff semifinal, Monday, May 8, 2023, in Miami. Credit: AP/Lynne Sladky
MIAMI — The Knicks had plenty to worry about when the game ended Monday night, a loss putting them on the brink of extinction as they ready for Game 5 Wednesday, and much of it from their own self-imposed problems. So while they weren’t pinning the blame on someone else there was the matter of the officiating that they considered curious.
The definitive reaction may have come not from the postgame comments but in the fourth quarter from the image of Josh Hart, called for his fifth foul, starting to argue and then just pulling his jersey up over his face to avoid a technical foul. The Knicks somehow managed to avoid a tech in the game, but got little else right in their efforts with the referees.
“Yeah that was tough,” said Julius Randle, who fouled out with about three minutes left in the fourth quarter. “As far as officiating that was one of the toughest games I’ve been a part of. Usually the physicality in the playoffs is up. I had six fouls and maybe four of them were offensive fouls or five. That’s never happened in my career. That’s tough.”
Randle and Hart fouled out while Jalen Brunson had five fouls, all flirting with foul trouble for parts of the game and frustration nearly from the opening tip. Still, the Knicks were called for just two more fouls than the Heat and actually had two more free-throw attempts.
“Yeah, before I comment on that, I want to look at the film,” Tom Thibodeau said after the game. “And the thing is, it’s like — they say marginal contact; they’re calling charges one way for them. Jalen is taking it square on the numbers. I don’t want to put it on the officials.”
Hart pointed to a particular play, not the one that had him pulling his jersey over his face, with 1:31 left in the third quarter when he was called for an offensive foul as he bumped into Kyle Lowry, who fell to the floor, the call waving off a dunk by Randle.
“Yeah, man, it was very interesting with some of that stuff,” Hart said. “But at the end of the day, try to control what you control.
“I think you can see from my reaction. I get told about a foul, I think it was my Kyle Lowry foul when I’m trying to just get out of the way. The offensive foul, Ju [Randle] went and laid it up. I told them Bam [Adebayo] did the same thing on a Jimmy [Butler] layup. Jimmy had a wide-open layup. Mitch [Robinson] tried to go contend it. Bam just grabs him. [The referee said] I don’t disagree what you’re saying. I don’t understand it. If you don’t disagree with it, it’s two different outcomes. I don’t understand it.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
