What officials told Joe Mazzulla about P.J. Tucker’s hit on Jayson Tatum not being reviewed
"We couldn't review it just because we wanted to."
With just over five minutes left in Monday’s Celtics-Sixers Game 1, Jayson Tatum was trailing the play on Malcolm Brogdon’s layup that put the Celtics up by two when P.J. Tucker swung his hand back and made contact with Tatum.
Tatum fell on the ground and rolled over in pain. Once he was able to get up, he stepped off the floor and into the tunnel for a brief break. He returned and finished the game.
The play was not reviewed by officials during Boston’s 119-115 loss to Philadelphia on Monday night. On the replay, Tucker appeared to swing his arm and make contact with Tatum’s crotch area as he was running by.
On Tuesday, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla shared what he was told by officials when they were asked why the play wasn’t looked at more closely.
“He said that we couldn’t review it just because we wanted to,” Mazzulla said. “I guess, I don’t know. But, that’s what we were told is, just because you want it reviewed (doesn’t mean it gets reviewed), so I guess they didn’t see it.”
Tatum scored a team-high 39 points and sank a pair of free throws that gave the Celtics their final lead of the night with 26.1 seconds remaining.
But it was Marcus Smart, not Tatum or Jaylen Brown (23 points on 8-of-10 shooting) who took the last shot for the Celtics in the final seconds.
“It was just a read,” Mazzulla said. “And so they changed their matchups from the first end of game play to the second one. We kind of expected that and tried to make a play and that’s just what happens.”
Mazzulla said that “you have to make the best play” in response to a question about whether or not he should have made sure the ball was in Tatum or Brown’s hands.
James Harden scored 45 points and the Sixers nailed seven more 3-pointers than the Celtics did. Boston shot 58 percent from the field collectively, but still fell short.
Tatum and Brown made seven of their nine 3-point attempts. Smart and Derrick White were a combined 0-for-6. The Celtics dominated in the paint early on, shooting 85 percent from the field in the first quarter.
But they strayed away from the 3-point shooting that got them here. The Celtics took 42.6 3-point attempts per game during the regular season. They only took 26 attempts on Monday night.
Mazzulla stressed the importance of spacing the floor and shooting without hesitation.
“Shoot it when you’re open. Spacing is important,” said Mazzulla.
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