The Boston Celtics narrowly lose to the Utah Jazz. Celtics star Jaylen Brown scores 36 points and attacks the referees after another defeat.
The Boston Celtics suffered a bitter 103:105 defeat against the Utah Jazz in their own arena – and Jaylen Brown blamed the referees for it.
With 44 seconds remaining, the Celtics were still leading 102:101 when the forward was defended on the three-point line by rookie guard Keyonte George. George slipped, Brown tripped over his legs, lost the ball, Utah’s Walter Clayton Jr. started the fast break and served Lauri Markkanen an alley-oop for the Jazz lead.
Celtics star Jaylen Brown angry after the renewed defeat
“Such a mistake should not happen to the referees at this stage,” Brown fumed afterwards. “Fourth quarter, less than a minute, and the referees don’t whistle the damn contact – that costs us the game. Unacceptable! We fought hard and it’s hard to accept that something like this decides the game.”
Referee defends decision
Chief referee Kevin Scott saw the situation differently. After the game, he explained: “We watched live as George slipped first. Brown lost the ball before there was any contact.”
The Celtics equalized in the next attack when center Neemias Queta converted one of two free throws, but Utah struck back. Big man Jusuf Nurkic scored a difficult shot with one second on the clock – the game winner.
Boston’s wing star Brown scored 36 points in 37 minutes in the fifth defeat of the season. Utah, on the other hand, celebrated an important away win thanks to Markkanen (27 points) and the strong rookie backcourt.
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