The Boston Celtics lost a heartbreaker, 103-101, against the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 3 of the best-of-seven Eastern Conference Semifinals on Saturday, and now trail, 2-1, in the series.
One of the bigger debates following the game was the questionable officiating, a talking point that now has some factual data behind it.
The NBA Officiating Last Two Minute Report was released on Sunday, and revealed that the referees made five mistakes in the waning minutes, all deemed as incorrect no-calls.
Despite the officiating seemingly favoring the Bucks, that was not the case in the final two minutes. Of the five missed calls, three of them benefitted the Celtics. Now, the value of each call can be debated, but the results are somewhat surprising.
Of the results, the most interesting has to be the foul call against Jrue Holliday on Marcus Smart. The NBA has ruled that the foul was in fact not a shooting foul as Smart did not get his arms up toward the basket in time.
It also should be noted that the previous 58 minutes are still left for debate in a two-point game. It’s easy to mark a badly officiated game if both sides are unhappy.
The Celtics will look to even the series in Game 4 against the Bucks at 7:30 p.m. ET on Monday in Milwaukee.
