Jayson Tatum calls out Celtics-Knicks ref for undeserved tech

Jayson Tatum calls out Celtics-Knicks ref for undeserved tech originally appeared on
NBC Sports Boston

Jayson Tatum set the TD Garden crowd abuzz on Monday night, but not without some drama involving an official.

The Boston Celtics’ standout received a foul for his interaction with New York Knicks guard Immanuel Quickley with 4:47 left on the clock in the fourth quarter. Tatum’s passionate reaction led to an unexpected technical foul, as referee Gediminas Petraitis perceived the incident differently and penalized the Celtics star.
(You can watch the sequence here.)

Tatum stood by his actions, claiming the technical foul was unjustified.

“I shouldn’t have got the tech,” Tatum said, as seen in the video player above. “I mean, it’s tough. It’s an emotional game, right? The fans can see it, everybody watching can see it, it’s hard to play the game without emotions.

“I understand there is a fine line and a balance, but fourth quarter, we playing defense and I screamed nothing crazy, not even directing it towards anybody. And then for the ref on the other side to come and give me that tech, I don’t agree with that. It wasn’t right. But can’t go back and change it now.”

Fortunately, Tatum’s technical foul didn’t impact the Celtics negatively. In fact, it seemed to motivate him as he clocked a series of crucial 3-pointers in the closing minutes to seal Boston’s 114-98 victory.

“I mean, yeah, I was mad, because I thought I didn’t deserve that tech at all,” Tatum said. “I’ve gotten a lot of techs in my career I know that I deserve. That wasn’t one of them.”

Tatum has learned not to dwell on missed calls, as he remained focused, scoring 17 of his game-high 35 points in the fourth quarter. He made quite a statement by hitting 6 of 8 shots (4 of 5 from 3-point range) in the final 12 minutes.

The Celtics are up against the 8-1 Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Boston.