Jazz Game 5 blog: Luka Doncic dominated the day and the Mavs are close to series victory

The Jazz and Mavericks tried to work the umpires a bit on Monday morning.

Utah had a sizable advantage in free throws in Game 4, going to the line 19 times more than Dallas, as the Mavericks were called out with eight more fouls.

Clearly unhappy with the poor disparity, Dallas coach Jason Kidd said this during the Dallas shootout Monday morning.

“Some of those fouls are trying to block (Rudy) Gobert,” Kidd said Monday, per ESPN. “We try to figure out what the ruling is on boxing and then teach our players the right way to box.”

Kidd is a Hall of Famer and a member of the league’s 75th Anniversary team – it stands to reason he would know the rules. So those comments were a clear message to league officials that he didn’t think the refereeing was even in Game 4.

And Dallas has an official report to point to at least one missed call.

The NBA’s final two-minute report for Game 4 said Donovan Mitchell should have been called for an offensive foul on his drive to the basket with 33 seconds left in the game. This drive ultimately resulted in a 3-point game and was key to Utah’s comeback in the final minute of the game.

“It’s part of the game. They try to get it right. Referees have a tough job. It’s hard to see things happen so fast and whistle. … You can be upset, but you have to move forward. ‘before,” Kidd told ESPN.

That missed call aside, Gobert thought it was time for the Jazz to be heard.

“Their game plan is to hit me on every rebound,” he said Monday. “You have guys trying to box me with elbows and stuff like that; grabbing me. That’s their game plan.”

Gobert claimed that in Utah’s Game 3 loss — when it had just seven rebounds and no offensive rebounds — Dallas was allowed to get away with all of those tactics without penalty. So he said it was a good change to see those fouls happen in Game 4. Dallas center Maxi Kleber fouled in just 18 minutes.

“I didn’t get any of those calls (in Game 3) and every time I did something illegal I got the foul. So I didn’t think it was fair,” Gobert said. “In Game 4 I got a few – not all of them – but I got a few of those calls.”

As for the Mavericks’ comments on officiating, Gobert thinks they should be the “happy” team for what the series was called.

“They allow them to do a lot more than what we’re supposed to do, so I think they should be happy with that,” Gobert said.