Although the Oklahoma City Thunder won Game 2 over the Los Angeles Lakers to remain the lone undefeated team in the NBA playoffs, the spotlight has been shone on another area.
Lakers head coach J.J. Redick and the rest of the team made their frustrations known about how the game was officiated, including a post-game meeting with Austin Reeves and official John Goble.
More: Why Lakers met with refs in middle of court after Game 2 loss to Thunder
Now that complaints are coming from Los Angeles, have the Lakers officially lost control of the series, or will it actually help them moving forward?
Will the officiating change for the "better" for Los Angeles?
Even though most of the officiating issues were valid to many, it could also be concerning that the team may have lost focus in the series, potentially spiraling out of control as they are currently down 2-0.
On the other hand, it just may prove to be a positive for the Lakers after calling out the Thunder's flopping and unnecessary aggression in the series.
Sure, the Thunder won't change their style of play because the Lakers are complaining about the lack of calls.
Still, with the issues concerning the favorable whistle for the defending champions now exposed on a national level, it may call for the remainder of the series to be officiated differently.
The alleged favorable whistle for the Thunder is nothing new, but to be honest, if LeBron James is visibly upset with the officiating and agrees that he hasn't had a good whistle himself, it's going to open many eyes.
Game 3 will be the most important in the series, not only because the Lakers could be facing a 3-0 deficit, but also because we'll see how much of a difference the Lakers' complaints will make, if at all.
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