Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers, tagged with one of five technical fouls assessed against his team in Monday’s Game 1 loss to the Miami Heat, let off some steam during his postgame news conference and could be donating some money to the league for venting.
Rivers earned his technical late in the second quarter for barking about a lack of a foul call afterRajon Rondo converted a driving layup in traffic. Television replays appear to show Rivers simply screaming, “C’mon, Eddie,” at referee Ed Malloy as the action moves back upcourt. A moment later, Malloy stopped the action and tagged Rivers with the technical.
“I know mine wasn’t (deserved). I can tell you that much,” said Rivers, whose team got hit with three individual technicals, a delay of game and an illegal defense call. “I don’t know how long I’ve been in this league, but that has to rank as the worst I’ve ever had. I would have loved to earn it.
“We should never get them anyway. I told our guys that. But everybody has to keep their composure. Not just the players and coaches.”
Rivers’ technical was the fourth of the night for Boston. This after typically mild-mannered Ray Allen got a technical from referee Danny Crawford with 10:22 to play in the second quarter. A little more than three minutes later, Crawford assessed a technical to Boston for delay of game when Kevin Garnett batted the ball away after a make.
Midway through the third quarter, Malloy gave Rondo the team’s final technical for shovingShane Battier when the two got tangled under the Boston basket with 5:06 to play in the frame.
Asked whether the technical fouls worked against Boston in the first half, Rondo brushed it off. Despite the calls against them, the Celtics erupted for 35 points, their biggest offensive outburst of the postseason.
“We just got (the technicals),” he said. “I don’t know how many we got, but that’s just how it was called.”
WRITTEN BY Chris Forsberg | ESPNBoston.com & FULL STORY HERE
