Celtics admit Game 5 arguments with refs ‘not our best moment'

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The Boston Celtics let the officiating get the better of them on Monday night, and they will be the first to admit that. 

In the Warriors' 104-94 win over Boston in Game 5 of the NBA Finals at Chase Center, the Celtics visibly were frustrated with the refs throughout the game after multiple questionable calls went Golden State's way. 

Highlighted by Jordan Poole's Oscar-worthy flop in the fourth quarter, the refs were quick to pull the trigger on numerous foul calls for both teams, but with the Warriors winning for most of the game, the Celtics appeared more frustrated by the calls.  

Celtics coach Ime Udoka admitted that his team got too caught up in the calls on the court. 

"I think it was a little bit of that throughout the game," Udoka told reporters after the game. "So, not necessarily only in the fourth. Probably something we shouldn't do as much, and we all did too much."

Udoka himself received a technical foul at the end of the first quarter, which he explained after the game. 

"He didn't like how I pointed at him," Udoka said. 

Celtics center Al Horford admitted that the officiating got to them before Boston was able to eventually dial it back. At that point, it might have been too late. 

"Yeah, not our best moment," Horford told reporters. "As you guys know, I feel like we've been able to fend those things off, especially throughout the playoffs. For whatever reason tonight, I feel like it got to us.

"It's one of those things that we kind of brought it back. We were able to focus back in, but we can never let that get to us. We can't let that affect our game, the way that things are being played."

Jayson Tatum echoed a similar sentiment and stressed the importance of not letting distractions affect the team while playing on the road, especially in the fourth quarter. 

"But in those situations, especially on the road, regardless if we feel like calls are going our way or not, just in those moments, we just got to be better not letting distractions, things like that, distract us," Tatum said. "Down one going into the fourth quarter, just got to focus on what's important at the time.

"That's on all of us. We'll regroup and bounce back. I'm sure of it."

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A few questionable calls paired with the rowdy Chase Center crowd created an environment that appeared to be overwhelming at times for the Celtics. 

With the Warriors leading the series three games to two and heading back to Boston for a close-out game at TD Garden, Golden State certainly can expect to see a much more focused Celtics team with their Finals fate hanging in the balance. 

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