Jayson Tatum couldn’t stop himself.
Frustrated by the officiating all night – and maybe another ugly shooting performance – the Celtics were trailing by double digits late in the fourth when Tatum was seemingly hit on the arm attempting a 3-pointer. He jumped a few times and clapped in protest. And after Josh Hart drilled a corner 3 to put the Knicks up 14, Tatum continued his complaining.
Moments later, the Celtics star headed to the showers at Madison Square Garden early, with Knicks fans, and even Hart, waving goodbye to him as he walked through the tunnel.
Tatum’s first career ejection capped a frustrating night for both he and the Celtics, who never had it going from the opening tip. Two nights after they erased a double-digit second half lead in a wild win over the 76ers, the C’s never sustained any momentum, they missed Jaylen Brown (out for personal reasons) and they couldn’t overcome one of their worst outside shooting displays of the season in a 109-94 loss to the Knicks.
The last time they visited MSG, on Nov. 5, the Celtics canned a franchise record 27 3-pointers. In their return on Monday night, they drifted back to the other extreme as they finished 9-for-42 from downtown – a 21.4% performance that was their worst of the season.
