Celtics Star Calls Out Refs For Loss to Pistons

He was not happy with some of the calls that were being made in the shocking loss.

Mar 5, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis (8) and forward Jayson Tatum (0) react after a play during the second half against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images | Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

The Boston Celtics had a shocking loss to the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night. The fact that they lost to the Pistons wasn't shocking, it was the way that they lost the game that was shocking.

Boston got smoked, losing 117-97 to Detroit. It was a game that was out of hand in the second half, with the Celtics struggling to keep up with what the Pistons were doing.

Jayson Tatum was the only player who was able to score consistently against Detroit. He finished with 27 points on 10-19 shooting.

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Even though the game wasn't close, that didn't stop some Celtics players from being displeased with the referees. One player in particular was vocal about how bad the refs are.

Following the game, Kristaps Porzingis had some choice words about the referees in this game.

“They were really handsy, physical, handsy,” Porzingis said. “Refs were not calling a lot of stuff. It was one of those games that we had to adapt quick. We didn’t, especially myself. I was emotional and I was like riled up about not getting some calls that we usually get. Just not a good night for us, honestly, and that’s it.”

Porzingis was honest that he didn't handle not getting the calls well. Had the team adapted to the calls sooner, perhaps the game would have been a bit closer.

Porzingis put a lot of the onus on him for why the Celtics weren't able to win the game.

“Just had a bad game, to be honest,” Porzingis told reporters. “Me, especially. I was terrible tonight. We just had a really bad game. We fought. But they were like physical. For them, felt like it was a really important game, they really wanted to win. We battled as strong as we could, but we just fell short. We didn’t rebound the ball — especially myself. Definitely have to take some accountability and be better."

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Boston is still trying to make a run to get the number-one seed in the East. With that loss, that puts them 6.5 games behind the Cavaliers.

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