Sacramento Kings coach Mike Brown used a laptop to help demonstrate what he feels are calls to have gone against his team from the NBA officials.
Brown was ejected after he stormed onto the court to confront referee Intae Hwang during the fourth quarter of the Kings' 143-142 overtime loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday.
The Kings have lost three of their last five games, but coach Brown was not willing to let his team take full accountability for the loss to the Bucks.
Instead, during his postgame news conference, Brown wheeled out the technology to show what he believes were inconsistent calls from the referee.
"The referees are human, and they're going to make mistakes, but you just hope that there's some sort of consistency and there's some sort of communication between the refs," Brown said.
"The refs tonight, they were great, they communicated with me all night. But in terms of consistency, you guys saw it right here. In my opinion, the consistency wasn't here tonight.
"We had a chance to win the game and we didn't get it done," Brown said. "But I'm telling you, man, to go through [the inconsistency in calls], it's tough, man. It's tough to go through that."
Despite Brown's ejection, the Kings came back from 12 points behind to force overtime, in which they went ahead, only to be condemned to a defeat by Damian Lillard's long 3-pointer just before the buzzer.
Bucks coach Adrian Griffin said: "It was like we had the game and they stole it from us and we took it back at the end.
"When they went up six, it would have been easy for us to throw in the towel, but those guys are resilient. Probably one of our best wins of the season."
The Bucks look to be back on form after a slump earlier in January, and have now won their last three games. They sit second in the Eastern Conference, with the Kings sixth in the West.
Celtics are 'learning from mistakes' after series win over Heat
Jayson Tatum claimed that the Boston Celtics are learning from their mistakes after securing their place in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
The Celtics are into the semifinals following a 4-1 series victory over the Miami Heat after winning Game 5 118-84 on Wednesday.
In taking the series, the Celtics avenged their 2023 Conference finals loss to the Heat, who routed them in Game 7.
Tatum praised the team’s attitude during the win, saying: "That's how it should be.
"We should be learning from our mistakes and things we could've done better and applying it to the next season, because we're trying to have a different outcome this year."
Jaylen Brown and Derrick White each scored 25 points, while Sam Hauser had 17 points and Tatum added 16 with 12 rebounds for the Celtics.
Despite a record-breaking shooting performance by the Heat in Game 2, they struggled to gain a foothold in the series. They missed 26 of 29 from 3-point range and were out-rebounded 56-29 in Game 5 while playing without the injured Jimmy Butler, Terry Rozier and Jaime Jaquez Jr.
The Celtics were also without a key player, as Kristaps Porzingis missed his first postseason game with a right calf strain that will keep him out for at least a week.
Brown insisted that the Celtics have proven that they were never reliant on any single player.
"I think we just have to continue to play our game like we've been doing our whole career and continue to show our growth by trusting our teammates," he said.
"I think if we're going to win, we're going to win as a team."
Up next for the top-seeded Celtics is the winner of the Cleveland-Orlando series that the Cavaliers lead 3-2.
NBA: Celtics rout Heat to reach East semis; Mavericks cruise to 3-2 lead
Jaylen Brown and Derrick White each scored 25 points and the Boston Celtics rolled to a 118-84 rout of the short-handed Miami Heat on Wednesday to advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Up next for the top-seeded Celtics is the winner of the Cleveland-Orlando series that the Cavaliers lead 3-2.
Sam Hauser had 17 points and Jayson Tatum added 16 with 12 rebounds for the Celtics, who never trailed and gained a measure of revenge a year after Miami routed them in Game 7 of the conference finals.
Bam Adebayo scored 23 points and Tyler Herro had 15 for Miami, which exited the playoffs prior to the conference finals for the first time since 2021.
The Heat, who missed 26 of 29 from 3-point range and were outrebounded 56-29, played without Jimmy Butler (knee), Terry Rozier (neck) and Jaime Jaquez Jr. (hip).
Doncic, Mavericks rip Clippers
Luka Dončić scored 20 of his 35 points in the second half to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 123-93 rout of the Los Angeles Clippers for a 3-2 lead in their Western Conference first-round series.
Doncic had 14 points in the third quarter as Dallas extended its lead to 25 before taking an 89-69 advantage into the fourth quarter. He shot 14 of 26 from the field and finished with 10 assists and seven rebounds.
The Mavericks will try to close out the Clippers at home in Game 6 on Friday.
Maxi Kleber hit five 3-pointers and Kyrie Irving added 14 points for Dallas, which shot 54 percent (47 for 87) from the field, including 35.9 percent (14 for 39) from long range. The Clippers, meanwhile, were held to 37.9 percent (33 for 87) shooting and 25.7 percent (9 for 35) on 3s.
Paul George and Ivica Zubac scored 15 points apiece and James Harden scored just seven points on 2-of-12 shooting and missed six of his seven 3s. Russell Westbrook missed his first eight shots before finally scoring in the third quarter and finishing with six points on 2 of 11 from the field.
Giannis and Lillard 'very' close to returning as Bucks keep Pacers series alive
Having kept their Eastern Conference first-round series with the Indiana Pacers alive with Tuesday's Game 5 win, the Milwaukee Bucks could recover their two leading scorers for Game 6.
Despite star duo Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard missing out due to injury, the third-seeded Bucks dragged the series back to 3-2 with a 115-92 victory at Fiserv Forum.
Khris Middleton had 29 points and 12 rebounds – his third straight game with at least 25 points – while Bobby Portis Jr. also had 29 as he made amends for being ejected in Milwaukee's Game 4 defeat.
That meant they became the first team in NBA history to win a playoff game when deprived of their two top scorers from the regular season.
The Bucks will go back on the road for another must-win game on Thursday, and they are hoping to have reinforcements.
Two-time NBA MVP Antetokounmpo has missed all five games in the series with a left calf strain, while Lillard has missed the last two contests after hurting his Achilles last week.
After Tuesday's game, coach Doc Rivers said both players were scheduled to work out on Wednesday and suggested they could be in contention for Game 6.
"I think they're very, very, very close," Rivers said.
Rivers was delighted by the way their team-mates stepped up in difficult circumstances, adding: "You could feel the energy in our film and in our walk-through.
"We were coming to play and win tonight. You could feel it in the preparation, that was not a team walking through a walk-through, thinking this was it. That's a team thinking they can win."
For Middleton, it was simply about staying alive and giving the Bucks' stars a chance to impact the series.
"We have to find a way to win, whatever it takes," Middleton said. "We're still confident. Our backs were up against the wall tonight, we had a great home crowd that got us going.
"So we're going to have to find a way. That's the only way to put it, find a way to get this next one and force a Game 7."
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