Celtics Newsfeed: Celtics Fall to Trail Blazers, Referees Botch Crucial Calls

The Celtics took on the Portland Trailblazers Sunday evening, and both teams came out of the gate shooting hot from the field. By halftime, it was a tie game 71-71. Jayson Tatum was having another outstanding performance, scoring 24 points in the first half alone. Boston’s bench shot 8/8 in the first half, and tied an NBA record for most field goals for a bench without a miss.

However, as the game wore on, the officials whiffed on multiple crucial calls that swung momentum away from Boston, including a goaltending call on Tristan Thompson, a missed call on Norman Powell, and a technical foul and ejection of Marcus Smart. Boston ended up losing 129-119 against Portland in a shootout.

Boston now has a record of 34-31, and have slipped to 7th place in the Eastern Conference. Miami holds a half game lead over Boston for the 6-seed, with the two teams slated to face each other two more times before the season ends. Boston is 2.5 games back of the fourth place Knicks. Boston will have two days off before taking on the Orlando Magic on Wednesday.