Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff calls out officiating after Sunday’s loss to Sixers: ‘Game was taken from us’

CLEVELAND — J.B. Bickerstaff was fed up.

His Cleveland Cavaliers had just suffered a heartbreaking, 112-108, loss to the 76ers Sunday night at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.

“We deserved to win that game,” the coach said. “That game was taken from us.”

It was a game where Sixers stars Joel Embiid and James Harden combined to attempt more free throws (32) than the entire Cavaliers team (31).

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And Bickerstaff was highly critical of the officiating after Embiid made 17 of 20 free throws en route to game highs of 44 points, 17 rebounds, and five blocks. Meanwhile, Harden made 11 of 12 foul shots and finished with 21 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists.

With those two leading the way, the Sixers shot 35-for-42 from the foul line while the Cavs made 23 of 31 free throws.

But Harden struggled from the field, making just 4 of 14 shots. Embiid struggled through 1-for-6 shooting in the first quarter, but turned things around and finished 12-for-26.

“We did a great job defensively, making their two best players have a difficult time from the field. But one thing you can’t defend is the free-throw line,” Bickerstaff said. “That’s absurd. That’s absurd. Our guys deserve way better than what they got tonight.

“It was the rhythm of the night. They’re great players, right? They understand how to play through the rules, and they know how to manipulate the rules. This is no knock or disrespect on those guys. But the game has to be consistent on both ends of the floor. There’s contact on one end, it’s a foul. Contact on the other end, it’s got to be a foul. Tonight, we were searching for that consistency and I don’t think we ever found it.”

The coach was fined $15,000 for his comments.