Houston Rockets

Kevin McHale on Houston Rockets free-throw edge: "Well, quit hacking us"

Published May. 8, 2015 2:14 p.m. ET

foxsports

It's hard to call a Game 2 a "must-win" game, but it certainly felt that way for the Houston Rockets. Already down 1-0 to a Los Angeles Clippers team without Chris Paul, the Rockets responded at home with a huge victory.

The details of that victory, however, have been discussed heavily by both teams. The free throw disparity has been the most popular topic of conversation, as the Rockets went to the line 64 times compared to the Clippers' 32 attempts.

Here's more on the free throw debate from Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times:

The Clippers' complaints after Game 2 on Wednesday night about the high number of free throws Houston shot caught the attention of Rockets Coach Kevin McHale.

And McHale was matter-of-fact in his response Thursday at the team's hotel in Marina Del Ray.

"I heard them saying, 'Gee, they shot too many free throws,'" McHale said. "Well, quit hacking us."

"You shoot a lot of free throws when you decide that you're just going to get into the penalty and start hacking everybody," McHale said. "We ended up shooting a lot of free throws when you're putting in your backup, backup center [Udoh] to just grab guys. That stuff happens. James goes downhill and plays hard. There's a lot of contact when James plays."

(h/t Los Angeles Times)