George: Referees' explanations after non-calls a 'bunch of lies'
Los Angeles Clippers star Paul George wasn't pleased with the officiating during Wednesday's 105-89 loss to the Dallas Mavericks.
"We're putting a lot of pressure at the rim," George said, according to ESPN's Ohm Youngmisuk. "It's insane that we're not getting these calls. But it is what it is. It's nothing new to me. Hopefully, we'll send a bunch of clips in. League's gotta take a look at this."
Several non-calls on drives to the bucket were especially upsetting for the seven-time All-Star. The Clippers went to the charity stripe just 11 times during the defeat, and the Mavs managed only a dozen free-throw attempts.
"Just a bunch of lies," George said of his discussions with officials stemming from the non-calls.
"Can't go too much further than that - it's a bunch of lies," he added. "They know what's going on."
Complaints about the lack of calls in the lane have been a constant theme for George this season. He entered Wednesday averaging four free-throw attempts per contest, down from 4.5 last season, and significantly lower than his career-high seven per game during the 2018-19 campaign.
Clippers teammate Kawhi Leonard also thought the club wasn't getting calls in the paint, including when the two-time NBA Finals MVP appeared to get fouled on a dunk attempt.
"They looked at my missed dunk for 30 minutes, it seemed like. Everybody (saw) him hit my hands, so I don't know," Leonard said.
The Clippers earned four foul calls on shots in the paint against the Mavs, tied for the fifth-fewest the team has received this season, according to Second Spectrum. Tyronn Lue's squad averages 6.6 shots per game in the paint leading to a foul this season, the league's fourth-lowest mark.
"I mean, our job is to be aggressive, attack," George said following the Clippers' fifth loss in seven outings.
"We can't do much more than that, right? If they not gonna call it, they not gonna call it," he continued. "And that's the suck part about it, because we're not flopping players. We're not players that's like throwing our bodies into other players."