Celtics’ Jayson Tatum unhappy, calls referee after ‘b*utal’ call miss vs. Bucks

Jayson Tatum wasn’t pleased with the missed call.

The Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks faced off against each other on Sunday afternoon, and the referees may have missed a blatant call during the game. On the Celtics’ offensive possession, Jayson Tatum went up for a jump shot, and Giannis Antetokounmpo closed out on the shot, but he didn’t allow Tatum any space to land.

That forced Tatum to step on Antetokounmpo’s foot and twist his ankle, but the referee didn’t call a foul. A social media user posted the video of the day with the caption “Refs always ignoring when Tatum gets fouled seems legit. Another flagrant Giannis is exempt from.”

Tatum definitely agreed with the user, and replied to the post with “Smfh [emoji] some calls you just not supposed to miss.”

Usually on those types of plays, the defender gets assessed a foul because they didn’t give the player any space to land. Those plays are deemed dangerous, and it’s obvious after Tatum hurt himself. The Celtics still ended up winning the game, but the referees have to do a better job of making those calls to keep the players safe.

Head coach Joe Mazzulla called out the refs after the game for missing the call.

“That’s ridiculous,” Mazzulla said. “Can’t miss that. Can’t miss that … And [Tatum] didn’t let it impact the rest of the game on either end of the floor. But the refs did a great job, they knew that they missed it … That’s something that’s gotta be [called] because it could have hurt. He’s hurt an ankle before. But credit to him for handling it the right way.”

Celtics and Bucks game gets chippy

Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

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Besides the missed call, the Celtics and Bucks game came down to the wire, but things also got physical. After the no-call on the Jayson Tatum jumper, Jaylen Brown committed a flagrant foul on Giannis Antetokounmpo late in the fourth quarter. Prior to that, in the first quarter, Brown and Antetokounmpo had an exchange, where the Bucks’ star extended his hand to Brown for a handshake but jokingly pulled back.

After the game, Brown was asked about Antetokounmpo doing the fake handshake.

“Giannis is a child,” Brown said. “I’m just focused on helping my team get a win. And that’s what we did tonight.”

Everyone expected the Celtics and Bucks to be among the top of the Eastern Conference this season, but only one team is living up to their end of the bargain. With the loss to the Celtics, the Bucks are now 2-8, while the Celtics are 9-2.