It has been a frustrating series for the Boston Celtics and star forward Jayson Tatum in their Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat. Things didn’t get much better to start Game 5 on Thursday night after he received a questionable technical foul.
The Celtics have their back up against the wall trailing 3-1 in the series. Tensions are very high in Boston, which may have led to Tatum making his feelings known about a missed call early in the game.
He scored his second basket of the game early in the first quarter on a dunk. However, Tatum was upset that he didn’t get a foul call on top of the dunk after receiving some contact from both Heat point guard Kyle Lowry and forward Kevin Love.
Tatum gets a tech after chirping at the ref about a no-call 😳 pic.twitter.com/xHC8lUvfvL
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 26, 2023
No foul was called, and Tatum made a gesture toward the referee on the baseline after landing from the dunk. This instantly led to him being called for a technical foul. He then continued to talk to the ref and protest the call.
Plenty of NBA players complain to the officials about calls and don’t receive a technical. Most around the NBA world thought that it was a pretty soft call in a must-win game for Boston.
Wouldn't be surprised to see Jayson Tatum be added to the list of rescinded technical fouls this postseason after he was put in a dangerous spot by Kevin Love before his tech https://t.co/MM0vJlT2KS
— Brian Robb (@BrianTRobb) May 26, 2023
I’ve seen Jayson Tatum be way more egregious and deserving of a technical and not get one
Kinda wild they hand that out 3 minutes into this game
— Sean Barnard (@Sean_Barnard1) May 26, 2023
I must be on Mars.
What happened to discretion in the NBA?
Jayson Tatum gets a technical THIS early in the most important game of the season?
Unacceptable. Let the stars resolve this series! https://t.co/BSHWD6HykF
— John Frascella (Football) (@LegendSports7) May 26, 2023
Very, very, very weak technical foul on Jayson Tatum. Why can’t guys just wave an official off? It’s certainly better than other alternatives of communication….soft.
— Ben Sig 🚬 (@sig_50) May 26, 2023
Jayson Tatum was penalized with an early technical foul for expressing dissatisfaction to the referee regarding this particular dunk. 😳 #NBAPlayoffs #BleedGreen pic.twitter.com/vtrMoEUPXb
— OutOfSightSports🚀™️ (@OOSSports) May 26, 2023
The Celtics’ home crowd at the TD Garden certainly let the refs hear their displeasure with the call. They broke out into a “refs you suck” chant that was very noticeable.
“Ref you suck” chant after that Jayson Tatum technical foul. pic.twitter.com/fmsKj5zCGQ
— Jack Simone (@JackSimoneNBA) May 26, 2023
Fortunately, this call didn’t seem to have much of an impact on the Celtics’ play in the first half. They took a 17-point lead into halftime thanks to an impressive effort on the defensive end.
The Celtics are LOCKED in.
8 steals in the 1st half.Halftime on TNT 🍿
BOS: 61
MIA: 44 pic.twitter.com/dagyncr9WI— NBA (@NBA) May 26, 2023
[Bleacher Report on Twitter] Photo Credit: TNT
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.