Is this Marcus Morris kick a foul? The NBA says yes
Although the NBA issued a video Tuesday explaining two controversial calls from Game 4 between the Celtics and Cavs, it’s unlikely Brad Stevens watched it. After a missed foul call in the final minute of the same game in Boston’s first-round series, Stevens said he understands why the league wants to be transparent, but he doesn’t even look at the explanations.
“From a coach’s standpoint, I don’t pay any attention to them,” Stevens said. “I’ve moved on a long time ago.”
Besides, Stevens said after Monday night that he has “nothing but good things” to say about the officials. But if the Celtics head coach did take a look at the video from Monday night, he’d find that the NBA did not agree with one of his players.
Joe Borgia, NBA Senior Vice President of Replay & Referee Operations, joined @NBATV to discuss two challenging plays from Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals: @Celtics/@Cavs pic.twitter.com/V3ratfpT4A
— NBA Official (@NBAOfficial) May 22, 2018
Marcus Morris was whistled for an offensive foul during the second half after sinking a three-point shot that would have pulled the Celtics within 10 points of the Cavaliers. The referees determined that Morris had kicked his legs out and tripped Kevin Love, who was trying to close out on the shot.
The call had it’s detractors, including Barstool Sports’ Dave Portnoy, who wrote, “This is the worst call I’ve ever seen. Should be thrown in prison for this call.”
The official NBA Referees account replied to him, saying, “This is the correct call. The offensive player kicks his left leg out, and that, not the defender’s actions, is the reason for the contact.”
Joe Borgia, the league’s senior vice president of replay and referee operations, expanded on that explanation. He noted that Love’s initial trajectory when he jumped would have missed Morris. The leg kick changed that.
“An offensive foul needs to be called on this play because Love is affected by the contact,” Borgia said. “Normally when you see the offensive player kick their leg out, the defender just plays through it. It doesn’t affect their speed, quickness, balance or rhythm. But since Love got knocked over, that makes the contact more than marginal and that’s why the offensive foul was assessed on this play.”
Borgia also detailed another call later in the game. The Celtics were called for a backcourt violation when Marcus Smart had a rebound knocked away from him. After consulting with another official, the referee who made the call changed it to an inadvertent whistle and gave the ball back to Boston.
The referees for Wednesday night’s Game 5 are Ken Mauer, Ed Malloy, and Jason Phillips.
