Are the NBA playoffs too physical? Have the refs actually lost control? Here's what the data says - ESPN

ON MONDAY, AS the Oklahoma City Thunder prepared to open their Western Conference finals series against the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves, Thunder coach Mark Daigneault sat at a table facing reporters and addressed a question about one of the most consequential storylines of the playoffs.

The officiating. Or the perceived lack thereof.

The specific query focused on Timberwolves coach Chris Finch and whether Finch might try to influence the officiating through his comments to the media.

Finch had seemingly done so after a matchup between the two teams in the regular season, saying after a win against the Thunder in February, «It's so frustrating to play this team because they foul a ton. They really do. They foul, they foul all the time. And then you can't really touch Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander]. It's a very frustrating thing, and it takes a lot of mental toughness to play through it.»

Did Daigneault prepare for potential gamesmanship? Did he prepare his team?

Daigneault was blunt in his response.

«We prepare the team for the games, first of all,» Daigneault said. «I said this in the Denver series because it came up there too — teams, players, coaches are going to use the media to try to influence the whistle as a competitive advantage. The margins are thin in the playoffs. Everyone is looking for an advantage. Some teams will go to that, to do that.»

Daigneault went on to say of the officials, «If they are influenced by anything that anybody says in the media, they shouldn't be working in the Western Conference finals.»

The annual discourse about officiating — especially in the postseason — is not new. What is new this season is its intensity, from coaches complaining about discrepancies to players wondering out loud