The Boston Celtics fell to the Golden State Warriors in Game 2 of the NBA Finals. Though the game became a laugher following a lopsided third quarter — something they were focused on not allowing — there was one play that drew the attention of Celtics fans, and their coach.
Draymond Green fouled Jaylen Brown on a 3-point attempt with less than a minute to go before halftime. As the two players were on the ground, Green’s legs lingered over the back of Brown, who took exception and pushed them off. That led to an exchanging of words and a review over whether the foul would be upgraded to a double-technical.
ESPN’s announcing crew, as well as their rules analyst Steve Javie, agreed that under normal circumstances the referees would upgrade the exchange to a double-technical foul, but since Green had already picked up a technical in the first quarter, the referees would refrain from upgrading the foul. An unsurprising move to most.
“No, I was not surprised there was a double technical not called,” Celtics coach Ime Udoka said in his postgame press conference. “Not surprised at all. Due to the circumstances.”
Udoka wouldn’t expound on that specific play anymore, but he did give a look into his thought process when he drew a technical of his own in the third quarter.
“I just let them know,” Udoka said, “how I felt throughout the game in a demonstrative way on purpose to get a technical.”
Perhaps a way of venting his frustrations more so than rallying his team, Udoka’s comments were clearly made in a deliberate way. He, and the Celtics, were not happy with the performance of the referees in Game 2.
