Tom Thibodeau Subtly Calls Out Referees After Knicks' NBA Cup Loss to Hawks

The Atlanta Hawks beat the New York Knicks in the NBA Cup quarterfinals Wednesday.

New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau coaches against the Orlando Magic at Madison Square Garden. / Brad Penner-Imagn Images

After a tough loss which eliminated the New York Knicks from the Emirates NBA Cup, head coach Tom Thibodeau was asked about how the referees managed the physical play in an all-important game.

New York was called for 14 fouls while the Atlanta Hawks were called for 13. A slim margin, but this season in the NBA, teams are called for 19.4 fouls per game on average according to Basketball Reference. On Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden, the officials were letting the boys play.

In his postgame press conference, Thibodeau addressed whether he got the sense that the officials were going to let calls go on both ends, given that it's a single-elimination NBA Cup game.

"Yeah, I just looked at who was refereeing and I knew what it was going to be like," Thibodeau told reporters succinctly.

Tom Thibodeau was asked his thoughts on tonight's refereeing:

"I looked at who was refereeing. I knew what it was going to be like"

Jaclyn Goble was part of the crew that called a phantom foul in last season's Knicks-Rockets game. The referees admitted they blew the call. pic.twitter.com/LFLjNP3NMl

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) December 12, 2024

Jaclyn Goble, Ben Taylor and Natalie Sago officiated the Knicks-Hawks game Wednesday night.

Although Thibodeau did not transparently address the history, he seemed to have alluded to Goble, who called a foul on Knicks guard Jalen Brunson last season which led to a loss for New York. After that game, crew chief Ed Malloy expressed the call was a mistake.

Even though the refs admitted the mistake, it didn't take take the strike away from New York's loss column.

It seems that Thibodeau hasn't forgotten about the missed call. Now, we'll see if he has to open up his pocket book after the comment.

---

More of the Latest Around the NBA

feed