Boston Celtics Fall To Chicago Bulls After Questionable Calls Plague Game

The Boston Celtics saw their three-game winning streak to start the season crash and burn after the Chicago Bulls pulled off a massive comeback, but not without some second-half controversy.

The Celtics took the Bulls by the horns to start the game as they sought to assert their dominance early and quickly, but Chicago was not going to quit and soon found themselves leading the game at 65-54 after a 35-15 second quarter.

However, the issue for Boston continued to snowball into an even bigger problem come the third as versatile big man Grant Williams and interim head coach Joe Mazzulla were ejected from the game.

Mazzulla was the first one to be sent back to the locker room as Celtics guard Jaylen Brown drew the foul on Nikola Vucevic late in the third frame and the head coach was protesting to the referees why the Montenegrin player was not assessed a technical for showing displeasure with the call–something that Jayson Tatum was assessed a technical foul for earlier in the game.

Referee Mike Davis decided that he had enough of Mazzulla's complaining on behalf of Tatum, who was also in Davis' ear at the time, forcing assistant coach Damon Stoudamire to try and salvage a comeback.

On the other hand, Williams did not have much of a case working for him as he tried to draw a charge on Bulls guard Zach LaVine but was instead called a blocking foul on him because his feet were not set.

Williams got up from the floor and tried to walk off his frustrations in silence but was given a technical foul as well, as he also bumped into referee Cheryl Flores along the way and was quickly ejected from the game.

Though it may seem egregious for NBA fans watching the game at the time, the rules dictate that it must be an immediate ejection regardless of the intent–with which Williams did not appear to have targeted the official.

The Bulls would go on to confidently hold the line against the Celtics' late-game storm as they pulled off the 120-102 victory even if the game was plagued with ticky-tack calls on both sides.

Boston's scorching hot start to the game appeared as if they would take the Bulls down with ease, but execution and letting the calls get to their heads sank their chances of getting the win.

The Celtics will have four days off to clear their mind before hosting the 2-1 Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday, October 28 at the famed TD Garden.