The Boston Celtics got off to a horrific start on Sunday evening. For the second straight night, they went down 16-2, this time against the Milwaukee Bucks. The Giannis Antetokounmpo-led Bucks have been struggling all season long, but they had an edge over the reigning champs in this one.
Unfortunately, the edge only lasted so long, as Boston battled back in the third quarter, eventually earning a 113-107 victory. But their strong third was marred by a horrific missed call on Jayson Tatum. As he was coming down from a three-point attempt, Antetounmpo slid under him, causing him to roll his ankle.
But there was no call.
Joe Mazzulla gets mad at referees over missed Jayson Tatum call
After the game, head coach Joe Mazzulla was very unhappy with the missed call.
“That’s ridiculous. Can’t miss that,” Mazzulla said via NBC Sports Boston. “Can’t miss that.”
"Ridiculous"
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) November 10, 2024
Joe Mazzulla talks missed foul call on Giannis Antetokounmpo against Jayson Tatum 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/zygr4AcHLn
Landing-space fouls are usually automatic calls. Not only that, but they are also almost always reviewed for Flagrant fouls, and most of the time, those are automatic, too. But Tatum got none of the above.
Instead, he was left writhing in pain on the floor as the Bucks pushed the ball in transition. Boston got a stop on the other end before Mazzulla was forced to call a timeout to give Tatum a chance to get checked out by the Celtics’ training staff.
Needless to say, everyone on the side of the Celtics was very upset at the non-call, as it was painfully obvious that Tatum got fouled and Antetokounmpo should have gotten a Flagrant 1 for the offense.
Antetokounmpo didn’t do anything malicious. He probably didn’t even mean to step under Tatum. But that’s a Flagrant 1 foul, regardless of intent.
Boston ended up winning the game, and that’s what matters most, but had they fallen short, there likely would have been a lot more anger in the Celtics locker room about this play. And there was already plenty of frustration.
Tatum is one of the best players in the league. He’s a bonafide superstar and one of the favorites in the MVP race right now. But he couldn’t get a blatant Flagrant call? Not even a personal foul? That was ludicrous behavior from the referees.
The Celtics star does plenty of complaining throughout the course of the game, so perhaps the referees thought it was a ‘Boy who cried wolf’ situation. Regardless, it was an egregious missed call.
Boston won’t soon forget how the referees treated Tatum.