Sitting courtside has its own advantages, especially when you are a senior NBA reporter like Sam Amick. The 48-year-old revealed that the media seats gave him the best view of the "crazy" drama between Austin Reaves and the officiating crew.

Reaves called veteran official John Goble "disrespectful" and engaged in a heated discussion after Game 2 of the Lakers-Thunder series. Amick revealed on a clip posted by the 'Run It Back' X account today that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander got involved from the bench.

“And then Shai, I could hear him. He looks at, I think, Ben Taylor, and he kind of shouts,’ Hey, Ben, can we get a meeting too?'”

The Thunder are now 2-0 in the Western Conference Semifinals against the Lakers after winning 125-107 at Paycom Center. However, the bigger narrative that came out of the game was the officiating, especially against the 17-time NBA champions.

Reaves gathered alongside the rest of his teammates at midcourt after the game to give a long lecture to the officials.

Even coach JJ Redick voiced his frustration with SGA's whistle favoritism.

“I sarcastically said the other day they (Thunder) were the most disruptive team without fouling. They have a few guys that foul on every possession, and all of the good defenses do. SGA gets like a, I don't even know, a touch foul on a drive," Redick told the media

"There was a stretch where, like, four straight possessions, our guys got absolutely clobbered.” the Lakers HC added.

Meanwhile, the Thunder did not feel they received any sort of favoritism, as SGA remained in good spirits after the game.

While the Lakers might be down 2-0 in the series, the one thing that they have effectively managed to succeed in is limiting SGA's scoring.

The Lakers unable to keep up with the OKC

Across Games 1 and 2, the Lakers have restricted the reigning regular-season and finals MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, to 40 points. While the Lakers found a way to slow SGA, they still failed to capitalize on this opportunity.

With Luka Doncic still out for Game 3, the Lakers do not possess enough firepower to topple the OKC defence. While Reaves and James took the initiative with 31 and 23 points each, the Thunder managed to curb their pace.

Apart from SGA, the Lakers also needed to worry about Chet Holmgren, Ajay Mitchell, and Jared McCain, all contributing with solid performances. In addition, their bench has outscored the Lakers’ reserves 82-35 through two games. 

With the series now heading to the Crypto.com Arena, the Thunder would hope this trend continues to get closer to reaching back-to-back Western Conference Finals.

Do you think the Lakers can make a comeback at home without the talents of Luka Doncic? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by

Joy Bassy

Edited by

Surjo Ray