INDIANAPOLIS — Josh Hart said one of the referees officiating the Knicks’ 111-106 loss to the Indiana Pacers in Game 3 on Friday “wasn’t approachable.”
Officials missed a goaltending call on Myles Turner, who blocked Hart’s fast break layup after it already touched the backboard with 2:03 left in the fourth quarter and the game tied at 102.
Hart declined to complain about the missed call, but made an observation about the officiating on Friday night.
“I’m not going to sit here [and criticize officials]. I like my money. I’m going to keep money,” he said after Game 3. “I think what was tough for us was one of [the officials] wasn’t approachable. In a playoff game, the rules are sometimes, you want to see what they interpret and [how] they see the foul so you know how they are calling it. One wasn’t approachable at all. So that was tough for us. Just because we couldn’t see where we were wrong and where we fouled and what we could have done better. That was the only tough part. But it’s not on them. We had plenty of chances to win the game.”
Hart refused to name the official, looking to a Knicks public relations member and asking if he would get fined for giving the official’s name.
“Am I going to get fined?” he asked. The PR staffer nodded yes in return.
“Go back and look, but there was a play in the first quarter and I think [Jalen Brunson] was trying to talk to one and he just told him shoot your free throws,” Hart said. “It was tough to try to get an understanding.”
Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau also declined to comment on the officiating in Game 3.
“From my vantage point, those calls could’ve gone our way,” he said. “But I’m not going to comment until I look at the film. We just have to find a way to win. That’s the bottom line.”
The swing in officiating comes after Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle submitted 78 missed calls from Games 1 and 2 to the league office, while also going on a postgame tirade after the Pacers’ 130-121 loss at Madison Square Garden in Game 2.
The NBA fined Carlisle $35,000 for publicly criticizing officials and questioning the integrity of the NBA after his comments suggesting the league would rather big-market teams like the Knicks advance in the playoffs over small-market teams like the Pacers.
