NBA official explains decision in wild Celtics-cavaliers ending

Although it appeared as though the Celtics would win again at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Boston departed Cleveland with more questions than answers.

In the fourth quarter, Dean Wade led the Cavaliers to a 22-point comeback. In the decisive game, the fifth-year forward outscored Boston 20–17, giving the Cavs a 105–104 victory.

Although Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff contested an early foul call in the game’s waning seconds, Jayson Tatum was able to deny Cleveland the opportunity to complete the franchise’s largest fourth-quarter comeback.

Tatum responded calmly to the “weird” conclusion, but Joe Mazzulla and Jaylen Brown chastised the team for not exerting enough authority or effort to finish the game.

Darius Garland’s situation was quite close, but the pool report that was released following the game provided the final word.

Crew chief Zach Zarba stated in the referees’ pool report that “in our opinion, there was clear and conclusive evidence that the leg extension by Tatum created that marginal contact with the defender Garland, where otherwise contact wouldn’t have been made,” as reported by Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. “For that reason, it was reversed.”

JAYSON TATUM FINAL SHOT FOUL CALL OVERTURNED 😱

CAVS WIN. pic.twitter.com/GCyP6lgF6Z

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 6, 2024

Boston has been on the losing end of reversed calls before this season. The Celtics lost the game in the closing seconds after a foul call against Brown, then a guard for the Indiana Pacers, was reversed. This caused a commotion among all of the team members.

The Celtics’ 11-game winning streak was ended by the defeat, and they will look to recover on Thursday when they travel to face the Denver Nuggets, the reigning NBA champions.