Following the Boston Celtics 123-116 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, Celtics point guard Kyrie Irving complains to reporters about the officiating in the third quarter, specifically the amount of foul calls that Giannis was able to draw.
“Guy comes down six times in a row and gets free throws… shot 22 in the game. It’s getting ridiculous,” Irving would say.
A quarter in which the Milwaukee Bucks would get to the free-throw line 17 times, led by Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Greek Freak would earn nearly half of those attempts, amassing 16 free-throw attempts by the time the quarter ended.
As Irving notes, Antetokounmpo finished the game with a game-high 22 free-throw attempts. He’s shot a combined 40 free-throws in the last two games of the series and a total of 50 free-throws in the Eastern Conference semifinals; reaching double-digit free-throw totals in each game.
While officiating is an oft-cited reason for frustration in a game, particularly in an era where ticky-tack fouls are called at a premium rate and the level of physicality has been brought down to a minimum, Antetokounmpo has been determined to get the rim and his aggressive style of play is no doubt forcing the referees to blow the whistle as Celtics defenders try to prevent him from rising up around the rim.
For Boston to win Game 4, they’ll need to focus on doing a better job of defending Antetokounmpo without fouling but more importantly, play well enough to prevent themselves from feeling like the referees helped decide the outcome of the game.
