JJ Redick accuses referees of favoring Kings, calls out Sabonis' dirty plays / News - Basketnews.com

JJ Redick blasted the referees for favoring the Sacramento Kings over the Golden State Warriors in their first-round playoff series. Redick also disagreed with Draymond Green's suspension for stomping on Domantas Sabonis' chest, saying that the Kings were trying to bait him.

Credit: Scott Strazzante/San Francisco Chronicle via AP - Scanpix, Screenshot Credit Scott Strazzante/San Francisco Chronicle via AP - Scanpix, Screenshot

In an episode of ESPN's First Take on Wednesday, former NBA player JJ Redick claimed that the referees seemed to be favoring Sacramento Kings over Golden State Warriors in the first-round series with their whistles.

Domantas Sabonis

MIN:34.69PTS:19.09 (65.05%)REB:12.31As:7.15ST:0.83BL:0.48TO:2.93GM:81ProfileNBA2022/2023

The Warriors find themselves down 0-2 in the best-of-seven series against the Kings, marking the first time Stephen Curry has been in such a position.

"I have no problem with physical play in the playoffs, but if Steph Curry is not allowed to move off the ball... if you are preventing players from running down the court and you are allowing that to happen. There's a play late in Game 2 where Kevon Looney is right under the rim and ready for a rebound and Sabonis crashes in, pushes him in the back and they don't call the foul. That's a foul! The referees have dictated too much in the Kings' favor in this series, I really believe that," Redick said.

"And I don't know if it's the home crowd or whatever, I rarely complain about the referees, in fact, I don't know if I have ever complained about the referees. I think they are great, but if they are going to come back in this series they've got to call the game the way the game is supposed to be called," the current ESPN analyst and podcaster added.

Golden State will be without their defensive cornerstone Draymond Green in Game 3, who was suspended one match for stomping on Domantas Sabonis' chest in the previous game.

Redick expressed that he was not surprised by Green's suspension, but he completely disagreed with it.

He argued that the Kings had been trying to bait Green for two games, including instances where Sabonis grabbed Green and restrained him from running down the court in Game 1.

"This was, I believe, part of the strategy," Redick said. "I'm not saying Sabonis is a dirty player, but there are some dirty plays here. For the league to acknowledge that Draymond served a punishment — he got ejected, which I believe he should have been ejected, and I'm not condoning what he did — he served his punishment."

According to Redick, the Warriors have the potential to bounce back in the series if the game is officiated impartially.

The Warriors are going back home in a must-win situation. They host the Kings at Chase Center on Thursday night.

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