Garnett On Moving Screen: 'That Wasn't The Game'
BOSTON (CBS) - While his head coach wasn't happy with the call, Boston Celtics center Kevin Garnett is not going to criticize referee Mike Smith over the offensive foul he whistled him for with 10 seconds remaining in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semis Monday night.
Garnett said there were plenty of other reasons why the Celtics lost the game, and the series is now tied 1-1 as it shifts to Philadelphia for Game 3 Wednesday night.
"Mike was in the position and he called it. I'm not going to make a big stink about it," Garnett said after Boston's 82-81 Game 2 defeat. "I think (official) Danny (Crawford) had already given me a warning about how I was setting the picks. I'm going to continue to set picks. I'm going to continue to get guys open. That wasn't, to me, the game."
KG On Offensive Foul:
With the Celtics down three with 10 seconds remaining, Garnett was attempting to spring Pierce for an open three-pointer. But he threw his shoulder out into Andre Iguodala, and was whistled for the offensive foul.
While KG didn't think the call decided the game, he would have liked a chance to answer at the end.
"Mike made a great call. I don't really give it up to the refs, but he thought that was a moving pick. I just thought in that situation you let the players decide the game," said Garnett. "He felt like it was an illegal pick and that's what it is."
"That's the name of the game sometimes," Celtics captain Paul Pierce added. "They make a call, you got to live with it."
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Head coach Doc Rivers was not as reserved as Garnett.
"I wasn't fond of it. At all," Rivers said of the call. "You know, I think Kevin got called for three off-the-ball offensive fouls. So clearly it looked like they were looking for it all night and they got three of them. If you're going to tell me Kevin was the only one moving in picks tonight, then I'll live with that. He clearly was not the only one, but he was the one who got the calls tonight."
Garnett was whistled for one other offensive foul, on a moving screen in the first quarter.
