The second round series between the Wizards and Celtics has been all about home court advantage, with both teams winning by double digits on their home court through four games in a 2-2 tie. The Wizards dominated Games 3 and 4 in Washington, winning by 27 and 19 respectively.
Those blowout scores would seem to reveal a wide discrepancy between the two teams, but it’s been a puzzling switch from the first two games where the Celtics won by 12 and 10 (in overtime) in Boston. There are plenty of things you can point to as to what’s changed between the games in Boston and the games in Washington, but Celtics star Isaiah Thomas thinks the biggest difference has been a shift in the officiating.
Celtics' Isaiah Thomas: "I might have hit the ground 5 or 6 straight times… It's gotta be called differently… I don't even shoot one FT" pic.twitter.com/z2lMBcbF9o
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) May 8, 2017
“[The Wizards] were very physical,” he said. “The refs were allowing them to hold and grab and do all those things. I think, especially in that third quarter, I might have hit the ground five or six straight times. I‘m not the one who likes hitting the ground. It’s gotta be called differently. … [It] can’t be allowed [for me] to be held and grabbed every pin down, every screen and I don’t even shoot one free throw. I play the same way each and every night. So I think that has to change.”
Thomas did go on to say that the officiating wasn’t the reason they lost, but it’s clear that he’s angling for the game to be called tighter in Game 5. The Celtics point guard did not go to the free throw line in Game 4, making it only the fifth time this season that’s happened, and he felt there were more than enough opportunities for the refs to blow the whistle — Thomas went to the line 11 times in the Game 3 loss.
The series has been chippy and physical throughout, but the Celtics haven’t handled it as well the past two games and it will be interesting to see how they respond to that challenge back in Boston. However, the biggest problem for the Celtics in their two games in Washington wasn’t officiating or a free throw discrepancy. Instead, it’s probably the 22-0 and 26-0 runs they’ve allowed the Wizards to go on in both of the two games, which can’t really be attributed to calls going the wrong way.
