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Pelicans' Gentry rips officiating vs. Rockets, says Davis never gets calls

Jonathan Daniel / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Alvin Gentry thought his New Orleans Pelicans did everything they could to beat the Houston Rockets but were shafted by the refs.

The Pelicans head coach sounded off on the officiating in Saturday's 107-101 loss, and his biggest gripe was the lack of respect for superstar Anthony Davis.

"The thing that bothers me more than anything, and I really don't care, is that we try to play the right way and we play our ass off, and then what happens to us is that AD never gets a call," Gentry told reporters postgame.

"He never gets a call. We talk about them holding him, we talk about them grabbing him on rolls, we talk about them coming under him on post-ups. He never gets the call. Not one. And you know why? Because he doesn't b---- and complain about it. He just keeps playing the game."

Davis finished with 26 points on 11-of-18 shooting from the field and 4-of-4 from the charity stripe - about half his usual number of attempts. New Orleans went to the free-throw line 12 times to the Rockets' 18, despite outscoring them 50-38 in the paint.

Gentry praised the Rockets and even named James Harden the MVP, but he wasn't happy "The Beard" was afforded certain calls that Davis wasn't.

"Call it both ways. When AD rolls to the basket and AD's grabbed and he's held, then give him the same call that you would give somebody else," he said.

He wasn't done there, next accusing the referees of guessing on calls.

"You can't guess on plays when you got teams playing for playoff spots. You can't guess on a foul when a guy's got his hand on his chest, and he got his hand in, and you call a foul on a 3-point shot, that's not right. That's not correct. That's not the way you do it," he said, referring to this play:

"And then you give them the ball back on another play when they undercut a player. That's not right either. That's not correct. That's not the way you call the game. It's not," he added.

His final grievance was picking up a tech despite trying to avoid confrontation.

"And then when you can get technical fouls from walking away from a guy, then this league has really changed. I walked away from him so I wouldn't get a technical."

That penalty will pale in comparison to the fine likely coming Gentry's way for criticizing the officiating.

"And I'll take the damn fine that they're gonna give me tomorrow, that's fine," he added.

After Houston's previous contest against the Los Angeles Clippers, coach Doc Rivers also vented about the officiating and was fined $15,000.

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