You didn’t think Jayson Tatum would admit to it, did you?
The Boston Celtics forward appeared to foul Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James in the final seconds of regulation Saturday night at TD Garden, but the officials missed the call and allowed the game to go to overtime, where the C’s pulled out a 125-121 victory.
James and his teammates were incensed at the refs both in the moment and after the game — Patrick Beverley even brought a camera over to referee Eric Lewis to show him evidence of the missed call — but Tatum played coy after the game when asked whether he thought he fouled James.
“The last two minutes and overtime was a blur,” Tatum said with a sly smile. “I don’t really know what happened. Think I have to watch the game, watch the film. Everything happened so fast. Gotta move on and we got the win. That’s all I’ve got to say about that.”
Touché, Jayson.
Celtics guard Jaylen Brown acknowledged that Tatum may have fouled James on the play — as did the NBA after a postgame review — but wasn’t about to show any sympathy for his opponent.
“Looked like they might have missed a call on their end towards the end of the game,” he said. “But that’s life. They’ll be all right.”
While James and the Lakers have every right to be upset over that missed call, they had numerous other opportunities to win Saturday’s game. Los Angeles led by double digits in the second half and had a 7-point lead with six minutes left in regulation before allowing the Celtics back into the game.
The C’s also showed more resolve in overtime thanks to Brown, who scored 11 of Boston’s 20 points in the extra session to seal the victory.