It’s safe to say Marcus Smart was not pleased with the officiating Tuesday night.
The Boston Celtics veteran guard was vocal about it after the loss, to the point his teammates tried to calm him in order to save him from a fine for criticizing the referees.
All-Star point guard Kemba Walker in particular did his best to assuage the enraged Texan, but ultimately could not persuade his teammate to let go of what Smart saw as inconsistent officiating in the 116-105 loss to the new-look Houston Rockets.
Their opponent’s “small ball” lineups — mostly made up of players 6-foot-7 or shorter — gave the Celtics fits, as did the whistles.
Even Walker was uncharacteristically flustered on the floor, earning a tech at one point. “I would love to tell you a little bit more about it,” said the UConn product (via the Boston Herald’s Mark Murphy), “but I’m not trying to lose no money.”
In truth, while the officials did indeed have a tight whistle, the Rockets leveraged their speed to draw considerably more trips to the foul line — 42 to Boston’s 25 — which will likely require some time in the film room to adapt to before the foes next face off for their final meeting of the season on Feb. 29.
After spending about 5 minutes venting his frustration with the officiating tonight, Smart’s main qualm was when he felt he got called for fouling Westbrook by getting hit in the face.
Kemba emplored him not to vent in front of the media:
“I don’t care!”
— Jared Weiss (@JaredWeissNBA) February 12, 2020
Even still, the Flower Mound native and his teammates should have gotten more calls in Smart’s opinion.
“First team all defense, one of the best defensive players in the league, I would think so,” the Oklahoma State product insisted.
“Up for defensive player of the year, they’re talking, but obviously not,” he added. “I mean, we have Jayson Tatum, we have Kemba Walker, All-Stars, we have Jaylen Brown, potential All-Star, we have Gordon Hayward, was an All-Star. We got star guys, too.”
“If that’s the case we should be getting the same calls that those stars are getting,” said Smart.
Whether or not the league fines him for his troubles, adapting to Houston’s “Pocket” Rockets lineup is going to take some work for many a team in the league, having already brought down the Los Angeles Lakers as well.
The former Cowboy may have a point about home floor advantage to some extent, with an overabundance of offenses increasingly being held up as a reason the league has been experiencing a drop in viewership this season.
Regardless of the truth of both the impact of too many foul calls on the NBA’s ratings and Smart’s belief the Celtics aren’t getting superstar treatment, not allowing the frustration the Rockets’ charity-stripe-oriented style of play to rattle the team will go a long way towards quieting the zebras for Boston.
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