Jayson Tatum was tossed from a game for just the second time in his seven-year NBA career when the Celtics hosted the 76ers on Friday night.
Already struggling to shake off a gritty, dirt dog-like effort from an undermanned Philadelphia team, Tatum made matters worse for Boston.
In the final seconds of the third quarter, Tatum was charged with a loose ball foul on 76ers forward Robert Covington — which was later upgraded to a flagrant 1. In response, Tatum got chirpy with the officials, resulting in the 25-year-old racking up his second technical foul of the night and an ejection.
Boston’s No. 1 star, however, wasn’t the only one displeased with the officiating throughout the night, as mentioned by Sixers head coach Nick Nurse after the Celtics escaped with a 125-119 win at TD Garden.
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“There was lots of barking by both teams, right? And they lost a player which I thought was unfortunate. I hate to see that,” Sixers head coach Nick Nurse told reporters postgame. “Especially somebody like him, you know, (someone) everybody comes to see play. I don’t know what happened, but obviously, players from both sides were frustrated.”
