By: Justin Gincauskas

It is safe to say that Toronto Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic was not happy with the officials after Tuesday’s loss against the Los Angeles Lakers. Darko Rajakovic, who is in his first season as head coach, ripped into the officials over the free throw discrepancy that heavily favored Los Angeles.

The Lakers shot 23 free throws in the fourth quarter, while the Raptors shot just two. That is the largest free throw differential in a quarter this season. Toronto had just 13 free throw attempts in the entire game, which was significantly less than Los Angeles’ 36 attempts.

“That’s outrageous. What happened tonight, this is completely B.S.,” Rajakovic said. “This is shame. Shame for the referees. Shame for the league to allow this. 23 free throws for them, and we get two free throws in the fourth quarter. Like, how to play the game? I understand respect for All-Stars and all that, but we have star players on our team as well.”

“How’s possible that Scottie Barnes, who is All-Star caliber player in this league, he goes every single time to the rim with force and trying to get to the rim without flopping and not trying to get foul calls? He gets two free throws for the whole game. How is that possible? How are you going to explain that to me? They had to win tonight? If that’s the case, just let us know so we don’t show up for the game. Just give them a win. That was not fair tonight.”

One of the most controversial calls of the night came with under 30 seconds left in the game when the officials called RJ Barrett for a moving screen on a Scottie Barnes three-pointer that would have tied the game. Rajakovic was asked if he got any explanation from the officials regarding their decision to call a foul.

“There is no explanation,” Rajakovic said. “They just come up there, they review it, and they see what they want to see. They don’t want to hear us, what we got to say.”

Rajakovic will definitely have a fine from the NBA coming his way for his comments, which is likely to be a $25 thousand or $35 thousand fine, according to Bobby Marks of ESPN. The fine will be well worth it for Rajakovic, who gained lots of love and respect from Toronto players and fans for speaking out against the officials.

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