Jrue Holiday fouled with 4.6 seconds left as Marcus Smart started the shooting action with the third game of the Eastern semis between the Bucks and the Celtics 103-100. The foul, and the decision of the referees to penalize it as a normal personal foul and not a shooting foul, screwed up boston options to tie the match and force extra time, although in the end they had up to three shots to achieve it.
“It was a foul, it was a foul. He took the ball and turned to shoot”, valued Ime Udoka, coach of Boston. “He had both feet pinned, you can’t tell he was moving. I was looking for the shot, and it’s a poor call. An uncalled shooting foul.”
Referees told the Celtics coach that Smart waved his arms to seek contact, a justification that did not quell the complaints of the entire visiting team at what seemed, obviously, a full-fledged shooting foul. “I saw it live and also on replay, I just checked it out. It’s a shot, and he’s looking for the shot. He misses them when he’s getting high It’s an arbitration ruling.” settled the technician.
Smart asked the journalists their opinion on the play and nobody dared to speak in the press room. The player took that silence as another test that most of the spectators saw and felt the same about the play as he did. There were three shots, but there were two and he masterfully missed the second to capture his own rebound and be about to force the extension despite the arbitration mishap. The Celtics missed three shots in just three seconds after three offensive rebounds.
“Nobody was ready, but we were. I got the rebound, Portis pulled me on the shoulder but I had a good shot. He touched the rim, and like Al said we had a couple of good chances.” commented the protagonist of the play. Horford, who completed a great game, hit the equalizer with a tap that came already out of time after a last second of sheer madness.
Holiday, who committed the foul, asserted that Smart’s move was not a natural shooting motion. “It wasn’t a shooting move, I wasn’t even looking at the basket,” explained the Milwaukee point guard. Once again, the controversy was very present in a tight end to these 2022 NBA playoffs.
read also
–
