Refs’ Decisions Ignite a Whistle-Stop Furor

Clipper forward Darius Miles wheeled toward the basket seconds into the fourth quarter Friday night against Utah. Andrei Kirilenko of the Jazz delivered a hip check to a driving Miles, who fell to the court with a thud.

No whistle. No foul. Play on.

At the other end, Clipper guard Jeff McInnis swatted a layup try by Utah’s John Crotty. McInnis also swatted Crotty’s head, knocking him to the floor and drawing a flagrant foul.

Miles fell hard on his back and both elbows. He left the game and did not return. Crotty sank two free throws and left the game and did not return.

“Darius got floored and I touched somebody and it’s a flagrant foul,” McInnis said.

Said Clipper Coach Alvin Gentry: “Darius fell on his back, but it was called incidental contact.”

Gentry declined to discuss the play further, having already drawn a $7,500 fine this season for failing to leave the court in a timely fashion after the Clippers’ loss Nov. 3 against the Golden State Warriors.

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The Clippers made it through a game without picking up a technical foul, which was a victory of sorts. Gentry recently criticized the Clippers’ pattern of yelling at the referees.

“We’ve got to stop chirping at the officials,” he said. “Young guys should just play and leave the officials alone. They’ll listen to coaches, but they’re not going to listen to young guys. We should shut up and play.”

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Gentry on the Clippers’ sluggish play early in recent games: “We can’t dig a hole and get down by 15 or 16 points and expect to fight our way back every night. Just because we’re playing at home, we can’t all of a sudden expect to turn it on and start playing.”

The Clippers got it right against the Jazz, leading, 14-7, four minutes into the game and by 31-23 at the end of the first quarter.

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After playing three games in four nights, the Clippers canceled today’s practice. They host the Houston Rockets on Sunday at Staples Center.