Dan Gilbert's ref complaints in Cavs-Celtics series don't have much of a case
Dan Gilbert, the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, has joined the parade of those calling out the refs in the Celtics-Cavs series -- this on top of Coach Bickerstaff's recent comments on the free throw discrepancy. Cleveland's headman made more of a typical coach excuse, but Gilbert's thoughts were made sure not to go unrecognized either.
As SB Nation's Harrison Faigen relayed, Gilbert is known for his antics and that there's normally a lot of controversy whenever his name comes up within the media. Unfortunately, that tends to give a bad reputation to the organization entirely.
“..:while those with rooting interests can always find a quibble with the refs, it’s kind of hard to see Gilbert having a real case here," Faigen prefaced before saying, “His team was missing its best player and scorer, and took 16 more threes than the Celtics (48 triples to Boston’s 32), meaning they were in nearly every scenario always going to get to the line less than the Celtics while avoiding the paint that much.”
As Faigen explained, the Cavs shot beyond the arc much more, unlike the Celtics, who only let it fly a total of 32 times.
Hey Cleveland… I thought our guys fought hard tonight, especially without two of our best players. If there’s one thing we have learned, it’s that you have to work hard 24/7 (if you know what I mean) to win in this league. Let’s go get Game 5 and bring this back to Cleveland!
— Dan Gilbert (@cavsdan) May 14, 2024
As seen in Gilbert's tweet found on X (formerly Twitter), he sneakily points out the refs in reference to the difference of free throws shots between the Celtics and Cavaliers during Game 4. To reiterate, the Cavaliers only went to the line seven times in comparison to the Celtics' 24.
Cavs could've beaten Boston Celtics and only have themselves to blame for not getting the job done
Does it make sense that Gilbert is upset? Yes, that's fair and understandable. However, it should not go without mentioning that the game was neck and neck for the most part until the end of the regulation. The opportunities for Cleveland to make a comeback completely were all for the taking, but they could not buy a stop and score to make it all true.
Fortunately, there's still a lot of basketball to play, and the complaints about the free throws will no longer be a topic of conversation. This sport is much more than getting sent to the foul line, anyway.