The Brooklyn Nets are certainly not shy about expressing their views on the officiating in the first round Playoffs series against the Toronto Raptors. A day after Jason Kidd complained about the refs, with the Nets needing to win Game 6 Friday night to avoid elimination, Joe Johnson told the press that he never gets favorable whistles. Per ESPN:
“I never get calls, man,” Johnson said before Friday’s morning shootaround. “It doesn’t bother me, though. I just try to play through it. At the end of the day, playing to the refs is not gonna make it any easier.”
Johnson took 23 shots in Game 5 on Wednesday night, but went to the free-throw line just once, something Kidd referred to as “mind-boggling.” Raptors guards Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan got to the free-throw line a combined 23 times in Game 5.
“If flopping is the way to go, then we have to maybe play that game,” Kidd said Thursday. “But Joe is a strong individual and unfortunately, he doesn’t flop. He plays and he doesn’t complain. But that’s why we have officials, for them to make calls.”
Johnson has gone to the line 20 times in the series, but just 12 times after Game 1. He is averaging a team-high 22 points on 56.8 percent shooting during the series.
“I’m not that good at it,” Johnson replied. “I’m not a flopper. I can’t sell it, I guess.
“I just try to be aggressive and just try to take whatever the defense presents to us as a team. We can’t worry about the calls. We can’t worry about getting calls. We can’t complain to the referees. We’ve just got to play through it.”
