Getty Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors.
The Golden State Warriors dropped a heartbreaking Game 4 on Monday, putting themselves in a 3-1 hole against the Los Angeles Lakers. Throughout the series, there’s been plenty of talk about the officials and how the games have been called. Steve Kerr even went as far as to accuse L.A. of flopping.
Prior to Wednesday’s Game 5, Lakers guard Dennis Schröder clapped back at Kerr’s accusations.
“If they set illegal screens, sometimes you gotta show them that they are moving on the screen,” he said during a livestream with Adin Ross. “If you don’t do it, they’re not gonna call it.”
Steve Kerr Complains About Lakers’ Flopping vs. Warriors
Kerr’s comments on the Lakers’ flopping came after the Warriors’ 104-101 Game 4 defeat, where L.A. shot 20 free throws. He told reporters that it was “disappointing” to see flops be rewarded throughout the matchup.
“I think we had three or four illegal screens called, and that was disappointing,” Kerr said via the Golden State Warriors official YouTube channel. “I didn’t get a look at the replay on any of them. But there were a couple that were very disappointing just live. The Lakers — they’re a team that plays with a lot of gamesmanship. They understand how to generate some calls. I thought they took some flops and were rewarded, but I’ll have to see the replays. Maybe I’m wrong, maybe those were all illegal screens but didn’t feel like it watching it.”
The Lakers shot eight more free throws than the Dubs did in Game 4. The gap in attempts from the line may seem fishy, but it’s in line with the averages of both teams. Throughout the regular season, Golden State shot the lowest amount of free throws in the league, while L.A. shot the most.
The shortage of free throws for the Warriors correlates with their 3-point heavy offense. They led the league in attempts from beyond the arc this year, meaning they aren’t creating much contact, resulting in a low amount of foul calls.
Stephen Curry Discusses Warriors-Lakers Foul Differential
Again, the difference in free throw attempts has been trend throughout the series, starting in Game 1. The series opener saw L.A. shoot an extra 23 times from the charity stripe.
The topic made its way into Stephen Curry‘s postgame availability. The star guard elected to place the blame on Golden State’s defense, rather than the officials.
“AD [Anthony Davis] is going to put pressure on you all game, so you’d like to not let him get eight off, that might not kill you,” Curry said via the NBA Interviews YouTube channel. “It’s more the other guys, the ball handlers. Schröder gets 10 free throws. That can’t happen. Whether we think its a foul or not we can’t put ourselves in that situation. That’s how he makes an impact because he is super quick, you know, in his first step. We do have a certain strategy around him, but you can’t let him get to the line 10 times, that’s a killer. We’ll make those adjustments. Understand again, it was a quick turnaround from Game 7 against Sac [Sacramento Kings]. We’ll be locking in on what the Lakers do well and our confidence is high that we can bounce back.”