Foul or no foul?
That’s the question on everyone’s minds after the controversial end to Thursday’s Boston Celtics-Chicago Bulls game. Did Marcus Smart really graze Jimmy Butler’s elbow on a missed jumper with 0.9 seconds remaining, and should that supposed contact have been the difference between a Celtics win and a 104-103 loss?
First, here’s the play in question:
The Celtics, obviously, believed they got screwed by the call. But Butler insisted it was pretty clear-cut.
“A foul’s a foul. (Smart) hit my elbow,” Butler said after the game, via The Chicago Tribune. “I don’t care what nobody says. I think I’m making it if he don’t alter it like that.”
Smart didn’t say specifically whether he touched Butler’s elbow. Yet a screengrab shows his fingers might have barely grazed the Bulls star on his shooting arm.
If that’s the case, then by strict definition, it’s a foul. Still, you hate to see a game decided on such a ticky-tack call, especially since the referee made it a couple seconds after Butler already had shot the ball.
Thumbnail photo via Mike DiNovo/USA TODAY Sports Images
