Monday had the makings of a bounce-back game for the Boston Celtics. They were playing at home, didn't have to travel, and rested four of five starters in the final frame of their 128-101 loss to the Houston Rockets on Saturday. While they arrived fresh for tip-off, the Utah Jazz were in the second half of a back-to-back and missing their starting center, Walker Kessler. And while Will Hardy is the architect behind an impressive offense, the visitors entered Monday's matchup with a 2-4 record.
Uncharacteristically, among the issues that plagued the hosts in their 105-103 loss to Utah was a lack of effort in the third quarter. One's more likely to see Halley's Comet than hear Joe Mazzulla cite effort as an issue when his team gets outperformed.
However, when discussing giving up 38 points in the third quarter to a Jazz team that produced 20 in the paint and shot 72.2 percent from the field, Joe Mazzulla told Hardwood Houdini that Boston fell short of its standard.
"That's the tell of the tale, was that our first half was great. And I think the third quarter, they got the best of us, and they played harder than us," said Mazzulla. "It was a combination of just transition, offensive rebounds, and then some of their dribble-drive stuff, not being able to defend without fouling.
"So, you have to be able to put a full game together. The first half was good. [The] third quarter cost us."
While the Celtics must focus on controlling the controllables, such as their effort, they were still in a position to escape TD Garden with a victory and get back to .500. Among the issues that went wrong was a costly missed call by the officials. After the game, that required an explanation.
Kevin Scott explains his controversial non-call
In the final minute of Monday's matchup, Boston had possession and a 102-101 lead. They got the ball in the hands of their best player, Jaylen Brown. As the four-time All-Star went to attack downhill, his defender, Keyonte George, tumbled to the parquet. That caused Brown to trip over him as he tried to get to the basket.
Despite this being easy to recognize, there was no foul call. Instead, it was a turnover that led to a lob to Lauri Markkanen at the other end, giving Utah a one-point edge with under 45 seconds left.
Post-game, in the pool report, referee Kevin Scott offered this explanation to Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe.
"The crew observed George slip and fall just prior to Brown slipping on the same spot, resulting in the ball becoming loose prior to any contact," said Scott.
When asked if he had a chance to review the play after the contest's conclusion and if he stands by his call in the moment, Scott doubled down. "That's still my view after being on the floor in live play," he stated.
As for why he believes that is not a foul?
"Because the crew observed both players slip and fall prior to any contact. That's why a foul was not called during live play," said Scott.
That explanation is sure to rankle the Celtics.
"Y’all gonna get me fined because you can’t have a mistake like that as an official at that point in the game," said Jaylen Brown when asked about the play post-game. "It’s fourth quarter -- it’s a minute left in the game, or less, and you completely -- the whole staff blows the [expletive] call. You know what I mean? It cost us the game. Like, unacceptable.
"You can make mistakes at any point in the game, but right there? That was, that wasn’t good. That wasn’t good. It’s unacceptable. And they
[were] telling me like, ‘Oh, like, we didn’t see it.’ Like, how [did] none of you see it? You can’t trip somebody in the fourth quarter and it just be a no-call. That’s some [expletive]."
While frustrating, Boston must focus on what it can control after not meeting the team's standard on defense or regarding the effort the Celtics played with. It's time to turn the page to Wednesday's matchup against the Washington Wizards at TD Garden.