JJ Redick says officiating affected Lakers in loss to Pistons - ESPN

LOS ANGELES — After the Detroit Pistons turned what had been a tight game for most of Tuesday night into a 128-106 rout, Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick admitted the officiating affected his team.

«I think there's probably a level of frustration when you're turning the ball over and you're feeling like you're getting fouled,» Redick said. «There's frustration there, for sure. But I mean, again, I said it even here, we said it this morning: They're going to foul every possession. It's just, you got to play through it.»

Indeed, before the game, in which the Pistons forced 21 turnovers resulting in 30 points, Redick predicted their approach.

«They're going to foul on every possession, probably three or four times,» Redick said during his pregame remarks to reporters. «And that's not a knock, I'm not saying it in a negative way, but they're going to foul three or four times on every possession. [And the officials are] not going to call a foul on every possession.»

Detroit was called for 26 fouls, and L.A. shot 31 free throws. The Lakers were called for 24 fouls, and the Pistons shot 29 free throws.

Luka Doncic, who had a team-worst eight turnovers, said L.A. needed to up its aggression because of how the game was being officiated.

«We've got to definitely match their physicality,» Doncic said. «That's the whole point. We got to match how they play. You saw the refs let it go, so we should play [with] physicality, for sure.»

The Pistons certainly let their presence be known in L.A. to finish out their five-game road trip. Lakers guard Marcus Smart took a shot to the face in the first quarter by Pistons forward Duncan Robinson and was called for a technical foul for arguing with the referee because it was not reviewed to