Skip Bayless Goes On Rant After Mavericks’ Game 2 Loss To Celtics

Skip Bayless believes the Mavericks were robbed of a potential game-changer Sunday night at TD Garden.

Dallas trailed Boston by five with less than a minute to play in Game 2 when P.J. Washington found himself on a fast break. The Mavericks forward went up for a dunk but was impeded by Jaylen Brown and Derrick White, who effectively sealed the Celtics’ second straight NBA Finals win.

Brown and White both made contact with Washington, but referees deemed no fouls on the crunch-time sequence. Had the officials blown their whistles and the 25-year-old knocked down a pair, it would have forced the Celtics to try to close out the game on the offensive end, where they struggled for most of the night.

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The no-call didn’t sit well with Bayless, a former Dallas reporter who sounded off about the situation on social media after Boston’s 105-98 win.

“Obvious foul, never going to get called in that moment, on that stage in that arena against that team,” Bayless said. “Refs would be afraid to get out alive out of that arena. Refs would be afraid to go back to their hotel rooms — there would be some evil leprechaun lurking under their beds. They’re not going to make that call in that moment!

“But P.J. Washington would have made those two free throws and then it would have been very interesting for a cold-shooting Boston Celtics team to go to the other end and try to drive the final nail into the coffin. I’m not sure. I sure would have liked to see what would have happened if a foul would have been called. But it never gets called in that arena, in that moment. Congratulations, Celtics. You’re probably going to sweep.”

Jason Kidd thought Washington was fouled as well, but the Mavericks coach opted not to dwell on what could have been. Kidd probably was wise to turn the page, as Dallas needs to be focused on protecting home court and getting itself back in the best-of-seven series.

Game 3 at American Airlines Center is set for Wednesday night at 8:30 p.m. ET.