Brooklyn Nets star James Harden expresses frustration over 'consistency' of calls from officials

MINNEAPOLIS — Brooklyn Nets guard James Harden does not believe he is getting the benefit of the whistle the same way he did in years past.

The 32-year-old made that clear after getting to the line only four times in a 136-125 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday night. When asked why he feels he isn't getting the same calls he used to get, Harden acknowledged that he didn't know the answer.

«It's a good question,» Harden said. «I don't know. I don't even want to talk about it. But it's definitely — when I get to the basket, it's the same calls the guys are getting. Obviously, you can't call all of them. But there's ones where there's clearly stiff-arms and trips and things like that. But on the other end, there's no consistency. So it's frustrating.»

Nets coach Steve Nash echoed Harden's belief, saying that he doesn't feel the All-Star guard is always officiated the same way.

«I think there's nights where it's fair, and even including the points of emphasis this year,» Nash said. «Then there's other nights where it feels like he gets targeted a little bit. It just automatically gets lumped into that point of emphasis where he is creating the foul, which is not always the case at all.»

The points of emphasis Nash referred to is in regard to the NBA altering the way specific sequences were called before the season — especially offensive players trying to create contact and draw more free throws. Both Harden and the Atlanta Hawks' Trae Young figured to be affected more than most players because of the way they were consistently able to get to the line.

The interesting part about the rule shift is that Harden is actually getting to the foul line almost once more per game this season (8.2 attempts) compared to a year