While the Celtics escaped the Raptors after Jayson Tatum’s game-winning buzzer-beater in overtime, turns out, the refs missed two crucial calls in the final seconds. The NBA released its Last 2 Minute report from the game Sunday, which highlights the last two minutes of any game that is within three points.
Per the report, the refs missed a Tatum travel call when he started making his move against Ochai Agbaji. On the replay, Tatum does slide his pivot foot before starting to dribble, which is a travel. So Raptors fans aren’t going to very happy about that huge missed call.
However, the Last 2 Minute report also included an incorrect missed call just moments prior. The refs missed a foul call on the Raptors' Davion Mitchell, who ran into Jaylen Brown coming off the screen. Brown said postgame he thought it was a foul as it was an overall physical game Saturday.
Tatum revealed that he also thought Brown got fouled on the play, enough so that he took a second before making his move since he thought the refs were going to call the infraction. But the whistle never came, which is why Tatum started to initiate Agbaji before rising up for the 30-foot, game-winning 3-pointer.
So while Tatum traveled before the actual shot, the Celtics should’ve gotten the foul call on Brown to begin with. The Raptors already committed a foul inside two minutes in overtime, so Mitchell’s foul would’ve resulted in two free throws for Brown.
The caveat, though, is that the foul came with about seven seconds still left in the game. So regardless of how many free throws Brown would’ve made, the Raptors would’ve had one more possession to either tie the game or take the lead. (Brown could also miss the second free throw and the C’s get the offensive rebound.) The Raptors also had a timeout still left, so they would’ve been able to advance the ball.
Regardless, the Celtics will take the final result even though the refs missed some calls. They improved to 11-3 after Saturday’s victory. The C’s now host the Cavaliers for an NBA Cup game Tuesday in what will be a massive showdown between the two best teams in the East.
