Friday night's Game 3 spectacle between the Boston Celtics and the Milwaukee Bucks went down the wire and unsurprisingly, the game did not end without controversy. Celtics head coach Ime Udoka was not at all happy with how the contest was officiated, particularly in the dying seconds, and he made sure to speak out about it after their narrow 103-101 loss to Giannis Antetokounmpo and Co.
The Celtics coach firmly believes that the game officials missed a huge call on Marcus Smart with just seconds remaining in the game. The Celtics guard appeared to have been fouled by Jrue Holiday while Smart was attempting a 3-pointer, but unfortunately for Boston, it was ruled as a non-shooting foul. Boston was down by three at that point.
Udoka did not hold back in criticizing the refs:
“You cant say that’s a sweep, he’s going into the shot. Poor call,” Udoka said.
Ime Udoka said the refs told him Marcus Smart was making a sweeping motion on the final shot foul: "You cant say that’s a sweep, he’s going into the shot. Poor call."
— Jared Weiss (@JaredWeissNBA) May 7, 2022
Here's a look at the play in question that ultimately doomed the Celtics:
NBA officials ruled this a 'sweeping' move and not a shooting motion by Marcus Smart.
Should this have been 3 free throws for Smart? 🤔pic.twitter.com/4yJwwpkzvU
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) May 7, 2022
It did not stop there for the Udoka. He then went on to say that perhaps they would get more favorable calls if his players improved on their acting skills:
“I’ll teach my guys to flop a little more,” Udoka said, via Jay King of The Athletic.
https://twitter.com/ByJayKing/status/1523067221093740544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1523067221093740544%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fsports.yahoo.com%2Fnba%2Fboston-celtics-milwaukee-bucks-2022050715%2F
Tough break for the Celtics here. With the win, the Bucks now go up 2-1 in the series with Game 4 in Boston scheduled for Monday.
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