Getty Jaylen Brown
After the Boston Celtics lost to the Indiana Pacers on January 8, many were looking forward to what the last two-minute report would say. The referees overturned a foul called on Buddy Hield after the Pacers challenged it, despite there being footage of Hield making contact with Jaylen Brown’s head.
The Pacers were whistled for a foul on Jaylen Brown’s game-winning shot attempt.
After a challenge, the call was overturned.
Good call or bad call? 🤔
When the report was released, the NBA confirmed that it was the correct call while stating the following.
“The video clearly shows that Hield reaches forward and makes contact with the ball from behind Brown (BOS). While in contact with the ball, Hield also makes minimal contact with Brown’s head, and on review that contact was correctly deemed incidental. As the rulebook makes clear, the mere fact that contact occurs does not necessarily constitute a foul.”
However, the report added that the referees should not have called a foul on Kristaps Porzingis in the closing seconds.
“Porzingis (BOS) is above the ball and legally contests Mathurin’s (IND) shot attempt, with some incidental arm contact occurring concurrent with the block.”
The foul called on Porzingis gave Matthurin free throws that gave the Pacers a two-point lead with 0.3 seconds to go. If the referees hadn’t called the foul on Porzingis, the game would have gone into overtime. Porzingis himself responded to the report on his X account.
While the NBA refused to confirm that Hield fouled Brown, they confirmed that the referees made a wrong call that cost the Celtics the game in the end.
Jaylen Brown Demands Investigation Into Reversed Call
During his postgame press conference, Brown demanded the NBA investigate the situation after the referees reversed the call.
“I think we got the right to be upset… that one should be investigated.”
Jaylen Brown gets candid about controversial end of Celtics game vs. Pacers, and the foul on Buddy Hield that was overturned
“I think he obviously hit me in the head. We definitely need to do some investigation. That’s all I’m gonna say. I think that was an obvious one. I’ve never heard of ‘head part of the ball.’ It doesn’t make any sense to me,” Brown said, per Celtics on NBC Sports Boston’s X account.
Brown explained why he doesn’t think he should be fined for questioning the reversed call.
“That cost our team the game. You expect us not to be frustrated? We’re trying to build good habits. We’re trying to win as many games as possible. We just dropped one because of that, so I feel like we have the right to be upset. The league should understand. Of course, we’re going to say something about it after the game. So I don’t think there should be any fines, but I definitely think that one should be investigated.”
The league has since confirmed the call, but Brown has not let it go.
LeBron James Sides With Jaylen Brown
After the Celtics loss, LeBron James took to his X account to explain why he was on Brown’s side on the matter. Not only did he agree with Brown, but James added why the reversed call ruined the game.
See what I’m saying! 🤦🏾♂️. JB clearly got hit in the back of the head. They reviewed the play, just to reverse it and say he didn’t. MAN WHAT!! Good ass game to have an ending like that. And yall see why I be going 🦍 💩 out there when it happens
Despite James’ rivalry with the Celtics for well over a decade, he still will defend any call he deems when he sees it. James also referred to an incident during a Celtics-Lakers game in 2023 where he couldn’t believe a foul wasn’t called in the closing seconds of the game.
The Lakers then lost the game in overtime when a foul could have very well led to a victory.