Celtics' Jayson Tatum got away with travel on game-winning 3-pointer vs. Raptors
The NBA's Last 2 Minutes (L2M) report released a statement on Sunday about the game-winning three-pointer from Celtics star Jayson Tatum to beat the Toronto Raptors in overtime on Saturday. In the report, the officials said the star shuffled his feet before taking the shot, and the referee right on top of the play somehow missed it when it happened. Had the ref made the call on Jayson Tatum, the Raptors would have received possession and the opportunity to take the last shot.
Still, you can check the replay for yourself and see if the Celtics star really danced his way to a victory over the Raptors. This video comes courtesy of ClutchPoints on X, formerly Twitter. From the video, it looked like he tap-danced with the ball before making his dribble to separate himself from the defending Ochai Agbaji.
Celtics def. Raptors on Tatum game-winner
Before Jayson Tatum's game-winner , the Celtics and Raptors were tied at 123, and had the referees called the travel , Toronto would have gotten the ball back and won the game, or at least sent it to double-overtime.
In the past two seasons, Tatum had also figured in a couple of game-altering missed calls. For example, early in 2023, the refs admitted in another L2M report that their refs missed calling a foul on Tatum on LeBron James as the Celtics beat the Lakers in overtime.
This non-call frustrated Lakers fans, as expected, and gave birth to hilarious memes such as Patrick Beverley showing a camera to the official , playing back the replay of the foul over and over.
Similar to that game, another referee stood on top of the play and he could obviously see Tatum shifting his feet while holding the ball, but elected not to call the travel for some reason.
Perhaps it's champion's privilege, or simple home-court advantage, but a referee practically helping decide a game by not calling an obvious infraction is not a good look for the league.
Moreover, admitting the refs made a mistake in a report released a day after the game doesn't make it better, especially since the report actually doesn't reverse the decision or lack thereof. Likewise, they can't have both teams play the last two minutes again.
