Jayson Tatum couldn't buy a call against the New York Knicks on Monday night. Twice the Boston Celtics forward felt contact from an opposing defender that went unpenalized. Both times he blew his top, leading to the first ejection of his career. Could LeBron James, somehow, be involved in why?

Tatum didn't hide his frustrations after the game. He vented during the postgame press conference about the specific instances wherein he felt the referees unjustly swallowed their whistles.

But it was only after the game that he identified the likely source of the non-calls that went against him: his own non-call against LeBron James.

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Lakers fans vividly remember the moment from a few weeks back when Jayson Tatum very clearly fouled LeBron on what would have been the game-winning layup during their January clash in Boston. Instead, James was left dumbfounded by the non-call and lambasted the refs postgame as LA ended up losing the game to the Celtics in overtime.

Were Jayson Tatum's gripes a result of his foul against LeBron from a month prior? Probably not. It just goes to show that players can get a favorable whistle one game, then be on the wrong side of the it the next.

It just happened to hurt a lot more on a night when the Celtics were missing All-Star Jaylen Brown. Tatum was ice-cold from the field, connecting on just one three-pointer in nine attempts. With both their top scorers unable to make the Knicks defense pay, it was an uphill battle all night that was eventually too steep to overcome, especially without getting the calls they wanted.