This was a wild — and illogical — end to the first half.
Marcus Smart stole the ball from Giannis Antetokounmpo at halfcourt and went for the heave from halfcourt — drawing a foul on the Greek Freak.
THAT'S OUR DPOY @smart_MS3 🔒 pic.twitter.com/8ehVg20C9Z
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) May 15, 2022
That was a bad call in that it broke with precedent.
Did Antetokounmpo foul Smart? Yes. But after players such as Chris Paul tried to turn the halfcourt heave foul into an artform — going out of their way to draw it — officials did not call these fouls much this season. If they did, it was not a shooting foul. This call broke with that pattern.
Neither side was happy with the officiating, which was fair as there did not seem to be a consistent line of what was and was not a foul in the first half. Smart’s heave was the cherry on top and had Boston up 48-43 at the half.