Referees’ foul call on Luka Doncic all but gives Celtics NBA title
You don’t rip away the intensity of the last series because of a foul that required minutes of thought to uphold following a challenge.
But that’s what the refs did Wednesday night with Luka Doncic, who was whistled for a block on Jaylen Brown for his sixth foul. Doncic then watched the final four minutes from the bench, as Dallas’ comeback fell short in Wednesday’s 106-99 Game 3 to give Boston a 3-0 series advantage.
Especially under those circumstances. Jason Kidd disputed the foul and the Dallas crowd grumbled when it was pronounced unsuccessful. The Mavericks, who reduced a 21-point deficit in the fourth quarter into a 1-point deficit, were outscored in the final three minutes, 13-7.
“We couldn’t play physical. I don’t know. I don’t want to say nothing,” Doncic said. “You know, six fouls in the NBA Finals, basically I’m like this (motions with palms out). C’mon, man.”
Mavs coach Jason Kidd took the high road.
“They called a foul. I was stuck. I had to challenge it, therefore … had to challenge since it was a close call,” he said. “But the referee called it a foul. Got to move on, move forward.”
Somewhere from his seat inside American Airlines Center, Adam Silver was undoubtedly cringing. His league benefits from a contested series. It’s good for business. The more games, the more viewership on TV, the more tickets sold, the higher the revenue.
But now the drama is basically gone.
And as New Yorkers, we can only sigh, “Not Boston again.”
The city with banners galore and its funny Lucky The Leprechaun is on the brink of adding another to their collection. As you probably know, no NBA team has ever rallied from such a deficit. The Mavericks will be the 157th club to try after the previous 156 failed
