Chicago Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan criticized the referees for missing calls in Tuesday’s 126-98 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks — his first game of the season without a free-throw attempt.
Baiting opponents into fouls is one of DeRozan’s craftiest skills. He ranks fifth in the league with 20 attempts per game. After going three quarters without a call, DeRozan finally earned a technical foul in the fourth quarter for shouting at one of the referees.
“That was my whole frustration,” DeRozan said. “Without a doubt, I got hit a few times on a couple jump shots, and it’s the same old thing the whole game over: ‘I missed it. I missed it.’ From my opinion, we get paid to play at a high level, refs get paid to ref at a high level. … It’s just unacceptable.”
The lack of free throws was a universal problem for the Bulls, who made 7 of 13. Coach Billy Donovan joined DeRozan in criticizing the officials after the game, noting the Bulls took only two free throws in the first half.
“I’ve never heard of that and I’ve never seen that before ever,” Donovan said.
The referees called 24 fouls on the night — 12 on each team. The fourth quarter featured two more technicals after DeRozan’s when Tristan Thompson and Serge Ibaka locked up under the basket.
But the game was otherwise temperate despite the friction in previous meetings caused by Grayson Allen’s flagrant foul that broke Alex Caruso’s wrist in January.
“I think it was called like a playoff game tonight,” Caruso said. “They let most of the stuff go that in the playoffs they let go.”
Free throws didn’t make a difference in the result. The seven extra free throws the Bucks attempted wouldn’t have made a dent in the 28-point margin.
But drawing more fouls is a focal point for the Bulls amid their late-season slide in the standings. The harder they drive to the rim, the more fouls they create. Donovan emphasized that producing these opportunities is important regardless of whether the plays result in fouls.
“There was some plays where we had an opportunity to get to the free-throw line that we didn’t, but that’s part of the game,” Donovan said. “Those things are going to happen. There was other things we needed to do. Some of that could have been physicality, some of that could have been better communication. … It could have been a variety of things.”
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