On Monday night, Jayson Tatum was unable to buy a call against the New York Knicks. The Boston Celtics forward was touched by an opposing defender twice, but no foul was called. Both times, he lost his cool and was ejected for the first time in his career. Could LeBron James be connected to this somehow?
Jayson Tatum was ejected in the 4th quarter of the Celtics’ game vs. the Knicks after receiving his second technical foul 😬pic.twitter.com/4NF95qqjPo
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) February 28, 2023
Tatum didn’t hide his frustrations after the game. He vented during the postgame press conference about the specific instances wherein he felt the referees unjustly swallowed their whistles.
But it was only after the game that he identified the likely source of the non-calls that went against him: his own non-call against LeBron James.
Lol this what I get for fouling Bron https://t.co/Tn4lXNJDCE
— Jayson Tatum (@jaytatum0) February 28, 2023
Lakers fans vividly remember the moment from a few weeks back when Jayson Tatum very clearly fouled LeBron on what would have been the game-winning layup during their January clash in Boston. Instead, James was left dumbfounded by the non-call and lambasted the refs postgame as LA ended up losing the game to the Celtics in overtime.
NBA referee Eric Lewis on the final play of Celtics-Lakers where LeBron James was fouled by Jayson Tatum:
"There was contact. At the time, during the game, we did not see a foul. The crew missed the play." pic.twitter.com/ylw82VDLPe
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) January 29, 2023
Were Jayson Tatum’s gripes a result of his foul against LeBron from a month prior? Probably not. It just goes to show that players can get a favorable whistle one game, then be on the wrong side of the it the next.
It just happened to hurt a lot more on a night when the Celtics were missing All-Star Jaylen Brown. Tatum was ice-cold from the field, connecting on just one three-pointer in nine attempts. With both their top scorers unable to make the Knicks defense pay, it was an uphill battle all night that was eventually too steep to overcome, especially without getting the calls they wanted.
Source: https://clutchpoints.com
