The Grizzlies are in a two-game hole against the Spurs, and David Fizdale is irate his team gets no respect. 

After fighting back from being down 26, the Memphis Grizzlies fell 96-82 at the hands of the Spurs, and head coach David Fizdale had a lot to say about Monday night’s officiating.

“I’m not a numbers guy, but that doesn’t seem to add up,” might be the best quote of the postseason.

And I applaud Fizdale for saying it. Memphis definitely got the short end of the stick with 15 free throws compared to San Antonio’s 32, and it is odd to see the Grizzlies not getting respect from the officials — something that Fizdale alluded to.

Mike Conley would’ve likely been an All-Star had he played in the East, and Marc Gasol is fresh off of the best regular season of his career. Furthermore, Memphis making the playoffs isn’t a fluke, and they’ve been one of the West’s best teams for the last couple of seasons. This season marks their seventh-straight trip to the postseason and, in a league where reputation does play a role in officiating, that should warrant a couple of calls in Memphis’ favor.

The NBA will likely fine Fizdale for criticizing the referees, but the most important takeaway from his rant is something that he didn’t say. Over the course of the 83 seconds, Fizdale never said that the Grizzlies lost the game because of the officiating; he stated his team wasn’t given a chance, but never did he explicitly declare that the contest was lost because of the officials.

San Antonio still shot 46 percent from the field and had a 39-35 advantage on the glass, and they outplayed Memphis in the fourth despite the officials swallowing their whistles. Kawhi Leonard shot all four of the Spurs’ free throws that period, but the team connected on seven of their 14 attempts while limiting the Grizzlies to just 35 percent shooting.

“TAKE THAT FOR DATA.”

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