Jayson Tatum didn’t think it was intentional when Kevin Durant poked him in the eye in Tuesday night’s loss to the Brooklyn Nets in Game 2 of their NBA playoff series.
But the Boston Celtics forward didn’t necessarily think he’s being officiated fairly, either.
In his media availability following Thursday’s practice, Tatum discussed how he’s being defended by Brooklyn physically, and subtly criticized the refs for not calling a foul on the play that took him out of the game.
“I know he didn’t intend to poke me in the eye, it was just kind of how it went after I looked at it,” Tatum said. “Obviously they didn’t call the foul. It wasn’t intentional, but you know, I felt like the ref was right there. But I guess that’s how it goes sometimes.”
Tatum is anticipated to play Friday in Game 3, and said his eye feels good two days removed from the incident.
As for moving forward, he’s still trying to learn how to earn those superstar calls.
“From the officials, you know, it’s something I’m still trying to figure out,” Tatum said. “Some days are better than others but, I don’t know. I think everybody likes to talk about when you get to that, I don’t know, superstar status, you get those calls. And so that’s something I’m still trying to figure out.”
Boston and Brooklyn will battle in Game 3 at TD Garden with tip-off at 8:30 p.m. ET.
