The Los Angeles Clippers were called for 32 fouls during Saturday’s 125-122 loss against the Los Angeles Lakers, compared to 24 fouls called against their counterparts.
That disparity wasn’t lost on Bennedict Mathurin.
“It’s hard, man. You try to play hard and the game kinda stops on one side of the court more than the other,” he told reporters when asked about the officiating. “Kinda have to fight through it. I like it because it pretty much allows us to stay locked in. The players that we have on the court is all we’ve got. So pretty much just staying locked in, staying together, was pretty much important tonight.”
He wasn’t alone in his frustrations.
“[The Lakers were] foul-baiting the whole game,” Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue told reporters. “We run into it every night. It’s tough. Like, you guys are already great players. So, you know, it’s tough to stop them at that point, but we did everything we could.”
Interestingly, the Clippers actually got to the free-throw line more, holding a 29-25 edge in that regard. But Mathurin did foul out after scoring 26 points off the bench, while Kris Dunn came close (five fouls), leaving him and Lue a bit annoyed at how the game played out.