Phil Jackson remained defiant at the press conference. He stressed that it wasn't the Lakers' tactics that were flawed, nor was it that they didn't play well enough—and it certainly wasn't that the players weren't trying hard enough.
There was only one reason: the officiating was questionable.
Furthermore, the Knicks were just lucky.
Phil Jackson was a real piece of work.
In these past two games, the referees might as well have been wearing Lakers jerseys.
The Lakers had more free throws than the Knicks in both games.
On top of that, Su Xi barely got any calls when he drove into the paint.
As the face of the league, Su Xi wasn't even getting superstar calls.
Yet even with all that, the Lakers still lost.
And Phil Jackson was still trying to pressure the officials.
It was a classic case of "the squeaky wheel gets the grease."
Phil Jackson was a master of this game.
