Evan Turner Not Pleased With Officials
BOSTON (CBS) -- It's not easy containing LeBron James, and it's even harder now that Kyrie Irving has developed into a superstar as well.
So Celtics forward Evan Turner was a little upset after Tuesday night's Game 2 loss by Boston, feeling that the two Cleveland stars got some unneeded help from officials.
Two plays in particular irked Turner, with both coming in the fourth quarter as Boston tried to claw back into the game. First, Avery Bradley was whistled for a reach on Irving with 3:58 left to go in the game with Cleveland up 91-86. The Cavs didn't get any points off it, but they did get an offensive rebound off a LeBron miss and another opportunity, eating 17 seconds off the clock.
The second whistle is what really got Turner upset. Irving forced up a shot along the baseline late in the shot clock with 3:08 left, with Bradley making minimal contact with the Cleveland guard. Irving fell to the ground though, and referee Bennett Salvatore, who blew the whistle on Bradley just 50 seconds earlier, awarded Irving two shots.
Cleveland's four-point advantage turned into a 93-87 lead after Irving made both freebies, and they went on to win 99-91 to take a 2-0 series lead.
Turner vented his frustration to reporters after the game, especially over the second of the two calls by Salvatore.
"I mean, you know, not to knock on [LeBron and Kyrie], they are great players, but Avery [Bradley] is a known defender," said Turner. "To call a foul [when Irving is shooting] behind the backboard in that type of possession, it should never be called. It wasn't a playable shot. It wasn't a makeable shot.
"That was the craziest call, and then at the end of the game, you call a travel on the ground [when] that was the same [type of defense Bradley was playing] the whole time? That was the only tough part about today," he vented. "That didn't make any sense."
Turner said the calls helped shift momentum of the game down the stretch.
"You can't really worry about it. You try to do the right thing. You know the refs are trying hard and can't see everything. You just try to play hard, but certain things…the one behind the backboard, 35 feet or whatever in the corner was a crazy call. That was a big game-changer down the stretch."
The Celtics cut into a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter to make the game interesting, so it's understandable that Turner would be frustrated when a whistle ends up making such an impact towards the outcome of the game. But he's struggled mightily with guarding James (who doesn't?), so he should probably keep his focus on that rather than being critical of the officials, even if Salvatore has a history of making questionable calls that benefit the stars of the game.
The Celtics host Game 3 of the series Thursday night in Boston, so maybe they'll get a few whistles in their favor next time out.
