Shortly before the start of the Boston Celtics‘ Game 7 with the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2023 East semis, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the league had circulated a document citing “13 officiating errors disadvantaging 76ers to four disadvantaging Boston,” which Philly coach Doc Rivers commented on pregame, saying “It was disappointing to see, honestly.”
“I mean 13-to-4 is very—in a one-point, two-point game, is hard to recover from,” he added. “It really is and when you saw the report and then saw the calls that were missed, the trip on James Harden down the stretch when he fell to the floor. The loose ball where they called a timeout, they didn’t have the ball plus there was a foul on (Marcus) Smart on the play that would’ve been free throws — that’s hard to recover from.”
“Having said that, it’s a human game and you have to just try and play through it,” suggested the Sixers coach.
The Utah State alum has worked out for the Celtics ahead of this year’s draft. https://t.co/vq9bHw7YbQ
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) May 14, 2023
“Usually, the disparity is never that great. Most games, there’s two or three and you can live with those, but 13-to-4, that’s hard.”
It remains to be seen whether such comments will have an effect on how the game is officiated, but fans of both teams are taking it as one might expect on social media ahead of the game.
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