The Boston Celtics got on the wrong side of the scoreboard and the officials Monday night at Chase Center.
The Celtics fell 104-94 to the Golden State Warriors in Game 5 of the 2022 NBA Finals, and two technical fouls didn't help their cause. Head coach Ime Udoka picked up the first technical at the end of the first quarter, and guard Marcus Smart was hit with the second tech at the 9:16 mark of the fourth quarter with Boston trailing by eight.
It looked like Udoka didn't do much to warrant his technical, as referee Mark Davis had a relatively quick trigger after Udoka voiced his displeasure over a Celtics foul right before the first-quarter buzzer.
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After the game, Udoka said Davis gave him a technical in part for leaving the designated coaches' box on the sideline.
"(That was) part of it, yes," Udoka said.
That infraction is rarely enforced, especially in a high-stakes situation like the NBA Finals. But Udoka apparently wasn't done with the refs. According to reporters at Chase Center, the Celtics coach got into a heated-back-and-forth with referee Tony Brothers during a timeout early in the fourth quarter.
Asked about his incident with Brothers after the game, Udoka responded:
"He didn't like how I pointed at him."
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While Udoka avoided a second technical and ejection, Smart earned his technical right after that timeout, and Udoka's spat with Brothers may have been on the refs' mind at that point.
The Celtics had a couple legitimate gripes with the officials in this one, but the refs were hardly the reason Boston lost; the C's committed 18 turnovers, missed 10 free throws and failed to execute in the fourth quarter (20 points on 4 of 15 shooting) to let a golden opportunity slip away.
Udoka and veteran big man Al Horford admitted team got a little too caught up in the officiating Monday night.
"Probably something we shouldn't do as much and we all did too much," Udoka said.
"Not our best moment," Horford added. "I feel like we've been able to fend those things off, especially throughout the playoffs. For whatever reason tonight I feel like it got to us."
The Celtics will need to be laser-focused in Thursday's Game 6 at TD Garden, as they now have no room for error trailing 3-2 in the best-of-seven series.