Tatum and Mazzulla react to the ‘ridiculous’ missed foul on Giannis originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Jayson Tatum gave Boston Celtics fans a scare when he sprained his ankle in the third quarter of Sunday’s victory over the Milwaukee Bucks. It landed on Giannis Antetokounmpo’s foot after a 3-point attempt, although no landing zone foul was called on the Bucks star.
Fortunately for the C’s, Tatum overcame the injury and remained in the game. Still, C’s head coach Joe Mazzulla wasn’t too happy that Antetokounmpo wasn’t called for a flagrant foul.
“That’s ridiculous,” Mazzulla said of the missed call during his postgame news conference. “I can’t miss it. I can’t miss it.”
Tatum echoed Mazzulla’s sentiments and expressed frustration over the negative decision.
“Your job is to protect the guys on the field… I could have been out for 6 weeks,” he said. “Not calling it… that (expletive) is frustrating.”
He also took to social media to criticize the referee.
“Smfh, some calls you’re not supposed to miss.” wrote in X.
Tatum led Boston to a 113-107 victory with 31 points, 12 rebounds and six assists. Mazzulla praised his star and added that the referees recognized that they did not comply with the decision.
“He didn’t let that impact the rest of the game on either end of the floor,” Mazzulla said. “But the referees did a great job. They knew they missed it… But you have to give (Tatum) credit for handling it the right way.”
Tatum has scored at least 30 points in seven of 11 games this season. He’s playing at an MVP level with 30.5 points (47.8 percent shooting from the field), 7.2 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game.
The Celtics improved to 9-2 with the win. The Bucks now have a dismal 2-8 record, tying them with the Toronto Raptors for 14th in the Eastern Conference standings.
Boston will look to get its third straight win when it hosts the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday in the first game of the 2024 NBA Cup. Kickoff of that matchup is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Boston.