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Tim MacMahonDec 19, 2025, 01:22 AM ET<\/p>\n
Close<\/a>Joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009Covers the Dallas Cowboys and Dallas MavericksAppears regularly on ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM<\/p>\n DALLAS — Detroit Pistons<\/a> coach J.B. Bickerstaff singled out crew chief John Goble as “not objective” following a 116-114 overtime loss to the Dallas Mavericks<\/a> on Thursday night.<\/p>\n Bickerstaff never specified the official by name during his terse postgame media availability, but he repeatedly referenced calls made by Goble. That included a technical foul and ejection of Pistons forward Ausar Thompson<\/a> during the second quarter and a technical foul on Bickerstaff called seconds after the halftime buzzer.<\/p>\n According to Bickerstaff, Goble told him during the game, “Night by night, this is how our interactions are.”<\/p>\n Editor’s Picks “So that says to me that the referee is coming into the game not being objective,” Bickerstaff said. “OK? That same referee, at halftime, I get my technical foul. I don’t say anything to him. I go to grab Cade [Cunnigham] to get Cade off the floor. He gives me a technical foul. That’s my job to get my player away from the referee, get us back to halftime so we can have the conversations that we need to have.<\/p>\n “So the same referee who comes into the game who’s not objective, and then he goes out and makes those calls. [That] same referee, if you take a look at the play where he ejects A.T, he steps towards A.T., right? That’s where the minimal contact happens, where he steps towards him and initiates it.”<\/p>\n Goble told a pool reporter that Thompson was ejected “for aggressively approaching and making contact with an official.”<\/p>\n Goble cited “continuous complaining” as the reason that Bickerstaff was assessed a technical at halftime. Cunningham, who was complaining to Goble before Bickerstaff intervened, had been called for a technical foul with 24 seconds remaining in the second quarter.<\/p>\n The Pistons rallied from an 18-point deficit in the second half to force overtime. Detroit had three shot attempts on its final offensive possession, when center Jalen Duren<\/a> grabbed two offensive rebounds. Bickerstaff attempted to call a timeout from the backcourt after Duren’s second rebound of the possession, but the referees apparently did not see or hear him.<\/p>\n “That same referee is standing next to me,” said Bickerstaff, who shouted and stared down Goble immediately after the final buzzer. “Does not award me the timeout.”<\/p>\n The Mavs were also upset with the officiating at key junctures of the game.<\/p>\n Dallas coach Jason Kidd hopped onto the scorer’s table in disbelief after center Anthony Davis<\/a> was called for a foul on Detroit’s Isaiah Stewart<\/a> with 3.4 seconds remaining, moments after rookie Cooper Flagg’s pull-up jumper gave Dallas a one-point lead. Stewart split the free throws to tie the score.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/nba_power_rankings_week8-1x1.jpg&w=130&h=130&scale=crop&location=center.jpeg\"){kind=spacer}
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