Nothing went the Celtics’ way Monday night at Madison Square Garden.
Boston brought struggles onto itself with a dreadful shooting performance. The visiting C’s were particularly lousy from beyond the arc, converting only nine of their 42 3-point attempts.
But the referees didn’t do the Celtics any favors either. This notion was evidenced through Jayson Tatum, who received the first ejection of his NBA career after two technical fouls. Boston’s franchise cornerstone after the 109-94 loss revealed it was a sarcastic compliment of the officiating that earned him an early exit.
Joe Mazzulla appeared to feel the same way about the Celtics-Knicks refereeing. But Boston’s head coach smartly saved himself some money by the way he handled a postgame question about the officials.
“How can I say this without getting in trouble,” Mazzulla told reporters, per MassLive. “It wasn’t the same as the Philly game.”
Mazzulla has a fair gripe, as the Celtics (22) were called for double the amount of fouls as the Knicks (11). This isn’t to say Boston would have won had there been a more even balance, but the matchup probably would have been more competitive.
The Celtics will try to bounce back Wednesday when they host the Cleveland Cavaliers.
