There was a game in Seattle years ago where the Bulls beat the Sonics and when it ended, Ray Allen unloaded with a very specific complaint.
Allen didn’t shoot well that night at Key Arena and accused Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich of repeatedly tapping his elbow as he shot the ball. Allen had a word for it, a “snakebite,” and claimed Bulls assistant coach Ron Adams teaches players that technique. Allen and Adams had previously worked together in Milwaukee.
The decisive play in Thursday’s narrow Bulls victory over Boston appeared to be just that. Intentional or not, replays seemed to show Celtics defender Marcus Smart making light contact on Butler’s right elbow just before he released a potential go-ahead shot.
Referee Zach Zarba called a foul on Smart, the Celtics threw their arms up in disbelief, Butler knocked down 2 free throws with 0.9 seconds on the clock and the Bulls won 104-103.
After leaving the Bulls in 2013, Adams spent a season with Boston’s Brad Stevens before moving on to Golden State. Probably just a coincidence, but a true story nonetheless.
Since this was the NBA’s only game of the night, the last-second foul call drew plenty of attention.
Bill Simmons, Patron Saint of Boston sports fans, tweeted, “Butler runs the clock down so he can get a terrible spinning fallaway w/ no time left and somehow gets bailed out. I hate the NBA sometimes.”
A poll on espn.com had 64 percent of responders choosing,”No, it was not a foul.”
Meanwhile, Friday’s Boston Globe featured this headline: “Any way you look at it, the Celtics got hosed last night.”
Here’s a passage from that column, written by Chad Finn:
“I think anyone and everyone who is reading this is in agreement that the Celtics got hosed. I think anyone with at least one functioning eyeball knows they got hosed. I think anyone who has ever played basketball understands the fundamental ebbs and flows of the sport — and what actually constitutes a foul — is in agreement that the Celtics got hosed. Deep down in his soul, Butler knows, too. He should have bricked his tying and winning free-throws on principle.”
Just a guess, here, but I suppose there’s a mix of real and mock outrage in that column, and the author knows his target audience well.
Late Friday, the NBA stood by its call, writing in its daily Last 2 Minute report that the foul whistled by referee Zach Zarba was the correct call. In the comment about the play, the league noted, “Smart (BOS) makes contact with Butler’s (CHI) arm that affects his jump shot attempt. Any contact to a shooter’s hand, arm, or wrist prior to the release of the shot is considered a foul.”
Butler also insisted the foul call was correct after the game. By the way, according to Elias Sports, the Bulls set an NBA record for most free throws (22) without a miss in a 1-point victory. Accuracy counts.
Smart’s explanation of what happened is also controversial.
“When Jimmy shot the ball I heard him scream, ‘No foul?'” Smart said, according to The Boston Globe. “As soon as he said that the whistle blew and I looked. And I saw him (Zarba) raise his hand up with the foul. And I just couldn’t believe it. But he made the call, so you have to live with it.”
The video doesn’t necessarily support Smart’s story. After releasing the shot, Butler did tap his elbow and turn toward the referee, but Zarba had his arm up signaling a foul before Butler turned his head.
Was it a late call? Maybe. Zarba did follow the flight of the ball, but raised his arm before it hit the front of the rim.
Stevens didn’t spend any time in his postgame news conference complaining about the foul, but Celtics star Isaiah Thomas did plenty of griping.
“Horrible call,” he said. “Did you (see it)? Did you think it was a foul? It was a bad call. It cost us the game. That’s horrible.”
The Bulls were upset when Taj Gibson was called for a foul on Thomas’ driving lay in with 1:30 left. His free throws put Boston ahead 103-100.
Butler ranks fourth in the league in free-throw attempts per game and Thomas is fifth. Let’s face it, both guys get generous calls at times.
And what’s done is done. The Bulls head into the all-star break with their second-straight victory over a top-four team in the East. Right or wrong, the result won’t change.
If the season ended today, the Bulls and Celtics would be matched up in the first round of the playoffs, so the battle may continue.
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