Boston’s Jaylen Brown, Derrick White comment on officiating in Celtics-Bucks series

The ref’s whistle (or lack of one) has become a distraction in several postseason series, Boston’s included.

There is generally a consensus throughout sports even beyond the NBA and basketball more generally that one never wants the game’s referees to become a major part of the story surrounding the game — never mind a playoff series or several of them.

But with fans, players, and coaching staff for several teams around the league’s 2022 NBA Playoffs unhappy with how the league has been refereeing games so far this postseason — the Boston Celtics‘ East semis series vs. the Milwaukee Bucks certainly among them, it’s become an unfortunate topic in NBA media circles, and one addressed by several Celtics after shootaround on Wednesday ahead of Game 5.

“To be honest, the game was called very interestingly,” suggested star Celtics forward Jaylen Brown, who saw a call overturned in a play late in Game 4 that could have very nearly shifted the momentum of a very tight game and even perhaps the series.