Getty Jaylen Brown is not happy with officiating in the Bucks-Celtics game.
Jaylen Brown does not appear to be happy with the officiating during the Celtics-Bucks game. After the Celtics loss, Brown posted a photo of Giannis Antetokounmpo holding hands with Ken Mauer, one of the officials from the game. Here is a look at the image Brown posted to his Instagram Story.
Jaylen Brown’s IG story 👀
Brown is likely referencing a call that was overturned late in the fourth quarter that would have been Antetokounmpo’s sixth foul. After a replay review, the officials reversed the charge call which resulted in Antetokounmpo’s shot counting while Marcus Smart was awarded a blocking foul.
There was also an additional review of a play involving Antetokounmpo to see if he was guilty of a “hostile act.” After the review, Antetokounmpo was not deemed to have committed a hostile act and did not receive a personal foul either.
“Hostile act review does allow for a foul,” crew chief James Capers told Sports Illustrated. “Had I seen a foul, and the contact had been more than incidental, then there would have been a foul on the play. But that did not occur.”
Marcus Smart on Officiating: ‘Giannis With 6 Fouls, They Didn’t Want to Get Him Out’
Brown was not the only Celtics player upset with the officiating as Smart admitted he felt the call was overturned to keep the Bucks star in the game. Smart noted he did not get a clear explanation on why the call was overturned.
“Wish we got a better [explanation,” Smart said, per NESN. “The excuse was I was late on the charge. They said the replay said I was late and it was a block, but quite frankly I think we all know what that was about: Giannis with six fouls, they didn’t want to get him out. We’ll just call that spade a spade, that’s just what it is.
The Bucks Began the Game With a 17-0 Run
The Celtics had about as bad of a start as possible as the Bucks began the game on a 17-0 run. Boston was able to get back into the contest, but it was the Bucks play late that helped preserve the win. Overall, Celtics head coach Brad Stevens appeared to leave the matchup encouraged by his team’s performance.
“… Our compete level was good, and there’s a lot of good things to build off of and a lot of things we can learn from,” Stevens noted, via NESN.com. “… I thought the way we played the rest of the game was pretty darn good. We did a lot more good things than bad, but we needed to play better to beat these guys. They’re really good.”
Going into the restart, much of the discussion centered around Kemba Walker’s health, but it was Jayson Tatum that struggled to find his rhythm during the Celtics’ first game back. Tatum was just two-of-18 from the field notching five points and seven rebounds.
The Celtics will look to rebound against the Blazers on Sunday, August 2. Portland was able to snag an overtime win against the Grizzlies in their opening matchup at Disney.