Skip Bayless rants over ‘obvious foul’ not called in Game 2 of Celtics vs. Mavericks
"It never gets called in that arena, in that moment. Congratulations, Celtics."
Fox Sports pundit Skip Bayless is no stranger to sharing his opinion on just about anything sprouting up in the sports world.
And in the immediate aftermath of the Celtics’ Game 2 win over the Dallas Mavericks in the 2024 NBA Finals on Sunday, Bayless aired out his grievances about what he thought was a critical missed call against Boston.
With under a minute to play in the fourth quarter and Boston only up by five points, Derrick White delivered the top defensive play of the night — rising up behind Dallas’ P.J. Washington and delivering a block to keep the Mavs from further chipping into their lead.
Jaylen Brown converted on a layup in Boston’s next possession that ultimately iced the game for Boston.
Mavericks coach Jason Kidd noted after the loss that “it looked like a foul” on the game-changing sequence from White and Brown — who both elevated behind Washington in an attempt to impede his fast-break slam.
Bayless concurred with Kidd’s assessment that at least one of Brown or White should have been called for a foul against Washington — but also stressed that the officials were not going to make such a call at that stage of the game.
“Obvious foul, never going to get called in that moment, on that stage in that arena against that team,” Bayless said in his rant on X. “Refs would be afraid to get out alive out of that arena. Refs would be afraid to go back to their hotel rooms — there would be some evil leprechaun lurking under their beds. They’re not going to make that call in that moment!
“But P.J. Washington would have made those two free throws and then it would have been very interesting for a cold-shooting Boston Celtics team to go to the other end and try to drive the final nail into the coffin. I’m not sure. I sure would have liked to see what would have happened if a foul would have been called. But it never gets called in that arena, in that moment. Congratulations, Celtics. You’re probably going to sweep.”
Even if the Celtics received a break from the refs in terms of swallowing their whistles on said play, Boston has still dominated large swaths of this series so far. Washington’s block would have cut the Celtics’ lead to three, but Dallas has also labored when it comes to keeping Boston’s offense in check during critical moments — especially in the paint.
As noted by MassLive’s Brian Robb, Dallas kept opponents to 59 percent shooting on attempts around the rim through the first three rounds of the playoffs. Over the last two games, the Celtics are converting on a whopping 83 percent of their shots around the rim against the Mavericks.
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