The Celtics are angry over what they believe was a miscalled foul involving Marcus Smart in the final seconds of Game 3, writes Andrew Lopez of ESPN. With Boston trailing by three points, Bucks guard Jrue Holiday hit Smart on the arm. Smart contended he was already in his shooting motion, but the officials ruled he was “sweeping his arms” and gave him two free throws instead of three.
“He caught the ball, he’s turning into a shot,” said Celtics coach Ime Udoka, who added that he looked at the replay before talking to the media. “Both feet set. You can’t say that’s a sweep. You’re going into a shot. That’s a poor call. Poor no-call.”
Smart also lobbied for three shots on the play, saying it made no sense for him to try a rip-through move considering the score and the time remaining.
“You need three [points] with 4.6 seconds, they know we need three,” Smart said. “We know they are gonna foul. It’s not like he got me when it was down low. I was already in my shooting motion. I thought it was gonna be three free throws; they said it wasn’t.”
There’s more on the Celtics:
- Jayson Tatum wasn’t involved on the final play and didn’t make much of an impact in Game 3, observes Brian Windhorst of ESPN. To have a chance in the series, Boston will need more production from its leading scorer, who was 4-of-19 Saturday and missed all 10 shots he took with Wesley Matthews as his primary defender. “Today was just a one-off where I was thinking a little too much,” Tatum said. “Knowing they were going to give me a lot of attention, I passed up some open looks that I should’ve shot.”
- Tatum is still dealing with soreness in his left wrist that started when he fell on it two months ago, tweets Jared Weiss of The Athletic. He appeared to aggravate it Saturday on a dunk in the second quarter. “That’s something I’ve been dealing with for probably like two months now,” Tatum said. “It wasn’t anything abnormal. When I fell on it, it bothered me. but nothing I haven’t been dealing with the last two months.” (Twitter link)
- Grant Williams is increasing his chances for a rookie-scale extension with his performance in the playoffs, per Brian Robb of MassLive. The third-year power forward will become eligible this summer, and Robb believes he might get offered at least the $54MM over four years that the Celtics gave Robert Williams.
Should Celtics complain about no call?
If every light foul were called, all starters would have 7 fouls
The refs did call a foul (correctly because Smart was hacked). It was just the wrong call because with 5 seconds left, what else would he be doing other than shooting a 3 pointer?
And screwing up a last second call is a lot different from “every light foul”.
I was watching the game on mute & was highly surprised that Smart only got 2fts &. Looked like a clear shooting foul on an attempted trey to me. Obv a huge call in the game/series. Overall the boy Giannis is just unbelievably great at basketball tho. Feeling like we’re probably gonna get a Finals rematch. I’m hoping Middleton will be back for it.. the Giannis vs Horford rivalry should be talked about way more
Tatum inconsistency needs to be addressed. Doesn’t seem as motivated as he was in Nets series. Is Mathews really locking him up ??
It was good game. Celtics D kept in gm. Giannis showed he’s best in NBA. He needs more help. Middleton was definitely missed this game.
Smart went into motion after getting bumped. It was the right call. Stop the crying. Bucks should be concerned letting them get three rebounds off the FT. That’s just unacceptable. Tatum pulled a “Harden” this gm. That’s where your anger should be focused on.
Tatum was too busy complaining about every call not going his way. The refs aren’t going to change the call, no call? Move on.
Grant Williams is solid, but 54M over 4 years seems like a lot for a guy with a ceiling as low as he has.
Then again, in 4 years 13M a year might be cheap.
He’s a good guy to have on your team bc he helps in so many different ways. He definitely has limitations but he’s a good shooter, he’s a good defender, hes a good rebounder, he’s a good teammate, & he’s the type of guy that’s just a winner & has a knack for making winning plays. And Grant’s ceiling rises as his 3pt shot gets wetter. If he was to eventually head to another team (Hou for instance), he’d get more 3pt attempts. Even in Boston it’s very possible he might eventually be 1 of the best catch&shoot 3pt shooters in the league. His ceiling on defense is extremely high too. PJ Tucker & Jae Crowder start for title contenders & Grant could/should def surpass them by the end of that contract.
He actually isn’t a good rebounder at all, he averages around 5 boards per 36 minutes. but I agree on the rest. PJ Tucker is a comp I have made before.
Even when he’s not corraling the board he’s in the paint, clearing space & defensively he’s pretty good at boxing his guy out on a consistent basis. Tbh Grant Williams isn’t the type of guy I would pursue if I was a gm bc he def does have limitations. Lacking length & athleticism & play-making ability off the bounce isn’t really my type forward tbh especially when he’s 6’5/6’6. But Ima be honest he made me a believer when he was at Tennessee. I watched alot of sec bball during that time & didn’t think he was all that as a freshman. By his last yr he was by far the best player in the conference. I think that’s sorta how it’s gonna be as he gets older in the league. He’ll obv never be 1 of the best players in the league but once he’s playing mostly against guys his age & younger he’s gonna be able to physically bully guys similar to how he did in college
Tatum has to play way better and stop shooting only 3 … Especially when you are +1 with 1mn left and in the penalty.
The refs helped Milwaukee win this one, there were multiple bad calls on the 4th quarter, for example Holiday pushed Tatum to score the last points on the game (103).
Celtics were 27-34 FTs in gm
Bucks were 14-17 …….
And Celtics shot last 17 FTs. While Bucks got no calls. Tatum a No-Show is reason they lost. Can’t beat them without Middleton. Celtics are in trouble.
Agreed, the refs were trying to keep Celtics in this game and did a good job of it. Bucks got a break at the end though.
Officiating has been terrible across the NBA… The superstar treatment is getting out of hand.
First, Giannis charges every time he posts..he drops his shoulder and plows into the defender.
The smart 2 shot call foul was a major mistake.. but the nba wants Philly and mil in the finals so they can get embiid v Giannis.
On top of the blown 3 point shot foul, smart was fouled getting the rebound of his missed free throw..
Officials are out of control and just getting terrible.
Todd is a little butt hurt. You look like a fool trying to downplay Giannis’s greatness.
@sigmanj… Too true, too true!
Tatum needs to work on mid range like Doncic or Booker …
When Tatum came into the league he was criticized for taking too many midrange jumpers. Now he’s taking too many 3’s?
He’s just shooting bad from everywhere (BC of his wrist somehow) and is going less and less in the paint. Holiday Does not even defending him
Game 3 L
4/19 shooting (0/6 from 3)= no mid range
2/3 from FT = not attacking the rim
Game 2 W
10/20 (5/10 from 3)
4/5 FT down
Game 1 L
6/18 shooting (4/9 from 3)=no mid range
5/8 FT
The Bucks like to pack the paint and play the passing lanes, they even tend to go under screens in order to protect it…JT takes plenty of mid range shots, this may be more of a case of how they are playing him, rather than him not wanting to shoot mid range J’s.
It was the right call, and it wasn’t close. BOS wouldn’t even argue a call that clear if it wasn’t near the end of the game. In short, if THAT was a shooting foul, then any player can turn almost any foul into a shooting foul merely by going up with a shot after the contact.
BOS gave the game away, and they are the only ones to blame. It was a road game, so they can still go home 2-2. They’d do better to focus on that, and stop whining.
Giannis is most likely the best player in the game. That’s being said, he does commit a lot of it uncalled charges and also travels a lot. If you watch the go ahead shot to put them up 101-100 he took 4 steps without dribbling. Love the guy but he def gets the LeBron treatment.
Good grief. Shooting motions are not diagonal at the 3point line. Not a shooting foul.
Udoka even admitted it accidently:
“Both feet set. You can’t say that’s a sweep. You’re going into a shot.”
So what about the feet, no reason not to call a sweep, and going onto a shot— yes, shooting a shot— no.
Im not a fan of refs bailing out the offense by giving fouls.