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The Boston Celtics survived a wide-open, game-tying three-point attempt by Steph Curry and subsequent last-gasp heave by Harrison Barnes on Friday to beat the Golden State Warriors 109-106 and end the reigning champions’ quest for an undefeated season at Oracle Arena.
You know that by now. The Celtics’ win sent shockwaves throughout the league late Friday night, and rightfully so. This was one of the best games of the season, a drama that further established Boston – which played without Jae Crowder, by the way – as a darkhorse contender to emerge from a crowded Eastern Conference come playoff time.
To some, though, the biggest takeaway from last night’s instant classic was something else entirely: Draymond Green continuing to get away with illegal screens.
DIME’s site-wide stance on this topic doesn’t align with the majority’s. We believe that Green and the Warriors indeed set moving picks from time to time, but not at a higher rate than most; they’re just more noticeable because Golden State constantly plays in the spotlight and utilizes on- and off-ball screens more as much or more than any team in the league.
Nevertheless, it’s easy to understand why many league followers were in an uproar following the final possession of Friday’s contest. Take a look at the sequence above and the photo below. Green appears to maul Marcus Smart before receiving the in-bounds pass from Shaun Livingston, right?
But video replay and stills neglect crucial context of both what transpired before Green leveled Smart and circumstances of time and score.
It was hot in Oakland on Friday, and Oracle Arena paid the price. Players were slipping across the floor all game due to condensation. Fans and media lucky enough to watch the Celtics and Warriors in person reported site-wide sweating, too.
Now scroll above and watch what caused Green’s fall to the floor in the first place. Evan Turner’s slip and ensuing trip of Golden State’s do-it-all forward directly affected the play and could have been called a foul. Slide tackles aren’t exactly legal in basketball.
Why did the officials swallow their whistle? Not only was Turner’s slip almost surely incidental, but referees tend to let questionable off-ball action slide in the waning moments of a close game.
Those factors, then, should obviously come into play with respect to Green’s “pick” on Smart. Can you say with absolute certainty that he took out the Celtics guard with intent? Green should be allowed to rise from the floor; that Smart was in his way could reasonably be considered happenstance. It wasn’t, of course, but judgment calls of that nature aren’t often made by officials at all – especially when they’d just avoided another and the game hangs in the balance.
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Don’t let the season-long narrative fool you. Golden State definitely sets moving screens, and perhaps those fouls go uncalled more often for Green, Andrew Bogut, Harrison Barnes, and company than they do other players. We don’t agree with that line of thinking, but it’s not a ridiculous assessment, either.
But a foul on this play? No way. Considering the angry masses convinced of otherwise following Boston’s dramatic victory, though, let’s just say we’re almost glad Curry and Barnes couldn’t connect with their game-tying tries. That kind of hysteria is never fun for anyone.
