Jayson Tatum reached another milestone during the Celtics' 109-94 loss to the Knicks Monday night, as he got ejected for the first time in his career.
Tatum got slapped with his second technical foul of the game with just under four minutes remaining and Boston trailing by 14, resulting in an automatic ejection. He was upset that there had been no foul call after Julius Randle hit his arm on a three-point attempt and continued to jaw with the referee well after the play.
Tatum had earned his first tech earlier in the game after another no-call, arguing to no avail that he had been shoved in the back while going up for a dunk.
However upset Tatum was in the moment, he seemed to loosen up after the game. Tatum took to Twitter to joke that not getting the second call may have been karma for getting away with a foul of his own on LeBron James last month.
"Lol this what I get for fouling Bron," Tatum wrote while quote-tweeting a video of Randle's foul.
Tatum also kept things light during his postgame press conference while explaining what he said to the ref.
"I just told him this was probably the best-officiated game I've been a part of," Tatum said. "I tried to give him a compliment. Didn't go over so well."
Tatum added that "all the great players get thrown out a few times in their career," so it could be "good for my rep."
It's been a frustrating week for Tatum since setting an All-Star Game record for points, at least shooting-wise. In three games post-All-Star break, Tatum is shooting just 22-of-60 (36.7%) from the field and 7-of-29 (24.1%) from three. On Monday, he was 6-of-18 from the field and 1-of-9 for three for just 14 points, which is tied for his second-fewest in a game this season.
Tatum will look to get back on track when the Celtics return home to face the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday.
Related
