BOSTON -- Jaylen Brown avoided league discipline on Wednesday despite ripping NBA officials Monday night for a missed foul call in the Celtics loss to the Jazz. The NBA admitted they made a mistake Tuesday its last two minute report after acknowledging a missed foul call in the final minute of the game on Keyonte George, who tripped Brown in a one-point game.
Brown went off on officials in the aftermath of the 105-103 loss while lamenting the call.
“Man, y’all going to get me fined because you can’t have a mistake like that as an official at that point in the game,” he said. “It’s fourth quarter. There’s a minute left in the game or less. And you completely — the whole staff blows the (expletive) call, you know what I mean? It cost us the game. Unacceptable.
“You can make mistakes at any point of the game, but right there, that wasn’t good. That wasn’t good. That was unacceptable. And then they’re telling me like, ‘Aw, we didn’t see it.’ How did none of you see it? You can’t trip somebody in the fourth quarter and then just be a no call. It’s some (expletive).”
Originally, official Kevin Scott explained in a pool report postgame why there was no call in real time.
“During live play the crew observed George slip and fall just prior to Brown slipping on the same spot resulting in the ball becoming loose prior to any contact,” Scott said.
However, after acknowledging the mistake, it appears the NBA gave some sympathy to Brown for his comments. Normally, criticizing the officiating publicly postgame results in a fine from the league. However, the NBA can clearly use some discretion in how they dole out those fines, and they did so here, saving Brown a hit to his wallet.
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