The Boston Celtics dropped Game 3 to the Orlando Magic on Friday night, bringing the first-round Eastern Conference playoff series to 2-1 in favor of Boston. The 95-93 slugfest featured incredibly physical play on the court, especially from the Magic, who have made that their calling card this postseason; Orlando had two flagrant fouls in the opening two games of the series, including one that injured Celtics star Jayson Tatum.
The Magic racked up another flagrant foul on Friday, with Cole Anthony getting penalized for an overly aggressive foul on reigning Finals MVP Jaylen Brown. This was apparently the last straw for Brown, who tore into the referees after the loss for failing to control the game and stating there might be a fight with the way things are going.
"There might be a fight break out or something because it's starting to feel like it's not even basketball, and the refs are not controlling their environment," Brown said to reporters. "So it is what it is. If you want to fight it out, we can do that. We can fight to see who goes to the second round."
Playoff basketball is always more physical than regular-season basketball, with each player giving their all on every possession and officials letting them play more often than not. But there is a line, and the Magic have been dancing awfully close to it. Tatum missed Game 2 after a flagrant foul by Kentvaious Caldwell-Pope in Game 1. Kristaps Porzingis bled all over the TD Garden floor thanks to a flagrant foul from Goga Bitadze. And on Friday Brown said he dislocated his index finger on the hard foul from Anthony.
It's one thing to play physical. It's another to play so physical players are getting hurt. The Celtics clearly feel like the referees need to reign in the Magic before more starters go down.
More NBA on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Jaylen Brown Ripped Referees After Celtics' Game 3 Loss: 'It's Not Even Basketball'.
