Grant Williams had a gripe with the officiating after the Celtics’ loss to the 76ers on Tuesday night.
Just days after the Boston Sports Journal’s John Karalis sat down with the Boston forward for an interview that a pledge from Williams to reduce his chirping at referees, he was at it again at Wells Fargo Center.
The Celtics were down by six with two minutes to go when Williams was hit with a technical foul for yelling at the ref, which led to the 76ers extending their lead to seven. Despite a comeback attempt, the C’s still lost by two. Williams believed he had good reason to be angry with the officiating, and he explained it all to The Athletic’s Jay King after the game.
“So that moment where I got hit in the face twice, I said, ‘Call the (expletive) foul,'” Williams told King. “And next thing you know I got a technical. So I got a technical for that. And the following possession P.J. (Walker) says, ‘Call the (expletive) push-off.’ No technical foul.
“Later in the game, after Joel (Embiid) throws me across the face on the out-of-bounds play, no review of a flagrant, no review of nothing. Then he proceeds to say, ‘How the (expletive) do you call a foul on me in that position? That’s not a (expletive) foul.’ And no technical foul. So it was like, OK, did I do something different from the other guys that led to me getting a technical foul? Or is it one of those things where I just need to shut up and dribble?”
While Williams does have fair points, he could have been assessed the tech for how he said what he said. Still, these are emotions he’ll want to keep in check especially with the playoffs on the horizon and even more so with the Celtics and the 76ers likely meeting along the way.
