It takes a lot for the Boston Celtics to lose a home game. The Chicago Bulls certainly did their part in a 117-108 victory Thursday, but the tenor of the game seemingly shifted following some frustrating fourth-quarter officiating.
The Celtics led the Bulls by four entering the fourth quarter, but a shooting slump helped Chicago pull ahead by nine midway through the frame. Boston fought back to cut the deficit to three, but things started to shift following a missed Jayson Tatum 3-pointer.
Chicago’s Ayo Dosunmu and Boston’s Payton Pritchard and Jaylen Brown chased down the loose ball, and when a jump-ball was called in the scrum, Boston believed it should have been Brown, not Pritchard, who took the jump. Official Justin Van Duyne disagreed, and both Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla and Brown were called for technical fouls after arguing. Two minutes later, Jayson Tatum was called for another technical after committing a foul on Coby White.
Ultimately, the three points didn’t swing the outcome. Chicago won by nine. But the Celtics were visibly frustrated by the officiating. So much so, in fact, that Mazzulla attempted to confront Van Duyne after the game and needed to be held back by two of his assistant coaches.
When asked after the game what message he was looking to deliver in that moment, Mazzulla played coy.
“I hadn’t seen him in a while. So, just a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday… can’t let a moment go by where you don’t wish the best to them and theirs,” he said sarcastically.
Brown was much more direct, saying his technical was “bullshit.” In his postgame news conference, he said he told Van Duyne that he hit Mazzulla with his technical foul for “no reason.” At that point, Brown said Van Duyne told him if he said it again, Brown would receive a technical of his own. Sure enough, that’s exactly what happened.
“I got fined a couple weeks ago for inadvertent gestures that are determined to not be a part of the game, which was fine. I took the fine. But what part of the game is a ref calling an inadvertent technical foul? I said to him, ‘You called a tech for no reason.’ He said, ‘If you say it to me again, I’m gonna call another tech.’ [I said again], ‘You called a tech for no reason.’ Then he called the tech. Like, man, get out of here. You can’t threaten guys with a technical foul. That’s not part of the game either. You want to fine people for gestures and all this stuff? Fine that. Like, that’s some bullshit,” Brown said.
“We were down three at that time – on the jump ball. Then that led to us being down eight. That affects the game. That could have been avoided. Joe didn’t say anything to deserve a tech. And then when I come to you and say, ‘You’re getting a tech for no reason.’ As a captain before the game, I come and shake all the refs’ hands, because I speak for my team. I’m allowed to talk. So when I tell you, ‘You just called a tech for no reason,’ and you say, ‘If you say it again, I’ll call another tech.’ Then I say it again, and you call a tech. You just threatened your whistle as a threat. Like, that’s not part of the game either. And I think it’s bullshit.”
Whether or not the technical fouls were reasonable is ultimately subjective, but it’s out of Boston’s hands.
As Brown suggested, they affected the momentum of the game. It’s up to the Celtics to maintain their composure in those moments. On Thursday, they didn’t, and it cost them the game.
