The Denver Nuggets hosted the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday for Game 1 of their first-round playoff series. The game came down to the wire, but the Nuggets ultimately snuck out a two-point win (112-110) to take a 1-0 lead.
Officiating became a hot topic, with fans calling out several questionable no-calls and decisions following the game.
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One moment that sparked major controversy came with just under seven minutes left in the fourth. After Clippers forward Nicolas Batum knocked down a three to give them an 84-81 lead, Nuggets star Nikola Jokic moved to grab the ball for the inbound. But as he did, Clippers wing Derrick Jones Jr. appeared to hit Jokic in the face with an upward motion.
There was no whistle on the play, and Jokic was visibly angry. The ref ended up giving Jokic a technical foul after he argued, despite him being the one who was struck.
Fans certainly didn’t agree with the ref’s decision, and many let them hear it on social media.
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“Elbow to the face and no call. aCone on @NBA your refs have to be better than this,” one fan said.
“Refs dictating playoff games is why the NBA ratings suck,” a fan added.
“Nba ref stupid (Expletive). Called a tech on Jokic after he got hit on the face,” another wrote.
Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15).© Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
The calls weren’t just in favor of the Clippers. In fact, many also felt the Nuggets were getting all the whistles down the stretch.
“Horrible refs too gave nuggets homecourt advantage for sure..,” one fan said.
“Refs are terrible. One sided all for the nuggets smh,” another wrote.
“I hate the clippers but them refs (Expletive) them so bad so so Denver could win that game,” another added.
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It was a rough game for the refs in the eyes of fans. But regardless of how everyone feels about the officiating, there’s no changing the outcome now, and both teams have to turn their attention to Game 2. Tip-off for that one is on Monday at 10 p.m. ET, back at Ball Arena in Denver.
Related: NBA Announces Historic Nikola Jokic News After Triple-Double Season with Nuggets
