« He has the worst signal of any star I’ve ever seen »

Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Reddick claimed LeBron James was victimized by officials because of his size after the Oklahoma City Thunder took a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference semifinals on Thursday night.

James scored 23 points in the first The Thunder won 125-107 but was twice called for questionable fouls while contact with him was repeatedly ignored by the match team. After averaging 5.3 free throw attempts during the regular season, the 41-year-old has shot just five free throws combined through the first two games of the series.

« LeBron has the worst signal of any star I’ve ever seen, » Redick said. « I mean, I’ve been with him for two years now. The smaller guys, because they can be theatrical, they usually draw more fouls, and bigger players who are built like LeBron have a hard time. He gets cheated. He got cheated again tonight.

« And it’s not like a new thing. It’s not specific to this team or this streak. He gets fouled a lot and it doesn’t (get paid). The guy gets hit in the head more than any other player I’ve ever seen on discs, and he rarely gets paid. »

Lakers star Reaves takes on team boss Goble

Officiating was an issue for the Lakers all night, with Austin Reaves confronting team boss John Goble after the game.

Reaves was particularly unhappy with the way Goble yelled at him in the final quarter as he waited to contest a rebound.

« I felt like I was respectful to all of them the whole night. I mean, there’s a million times in the past when I’ve said much worse things, » Reeves said. « And when we were doing the whole jump, when (the Thunder players) were switching places, I wanted to get on the other side because they had a guy on the other side just trying to keep an edge. And (Goble) turned around and just yelled in my face. I just thought it was disrespectful.

« After all, we’re grown men. And I just didn’t feel like he needed to yell in my face like that. I told him that. I wasn’t being disrespectful. I told him that if I had done this with him first, I would have gotten a technician. I feel like the only reason I didn’t get a technician is because he knew he was wrong. So, yeah, I just felt disrespected. »

And while Los Angeles fought an uphill battle with the officials, the Thunder kept pouring in points. Oklahoma found a way to play hard without getting paid, and Redick admitted to quiet admiration for the defending champs.

« I said sarcastically the other day, they’re the most destructive team without a foul, » Redick said. « I mean, they’ve got some guys that foul every possession. … They’re tough enough to play against. They’re tough enough to play against, you’ve got to be able to just call them out if they foul out, and they do.

« I think part of the reason (the Thunder are) officiating the way they are is because they don’t show emotion, and that’s a credit to them. I mean, they really took the emotion out of the game. They’re super tight-knit. They don’t complain to the officials, and maybe they’re the beneficiary of that, I don’t know. »

Thunder hold off Lakers despite Gilgeous-Alexander’s limited impact

The Thunder’s win was made more notable by the fact that they played without star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for most of the third quarter after he picked up his fourth foul early in the second half.

That coincided with a 22-4 run that turned the game in the Thunder’s favor.

« It was amazing, » said Gilgeous-Alexander, who scored 22 points. « They made stops and played the right way on offense. I have full confidence in these guys. These guys know how to win basketball games. They’ve proven it. We’ve proven it. No matter who’s on the floor, we can get the job done. »

« We have guys who are competitors, » Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigno said. « They see the game’s challenges as opportunities and attack them. »

Game 3 is in Los Angeles on Saturday night.