“Dirty”: Outraged Heat Fans Seethe Over Refs Decision To Punish Bam Adebayo In Game 4 Loss vs Celtics

The series between the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat came alive after the 8th seeding team made a comeback win without Jimmy Butler. Until then it was considered a one-sided affair. Moreover, the series paved the way for a brewing rivalry between the teams. Notably, tonight a controversial call involving Bam Adebayo and Jayson Tatum further solidified the feud. The late call in the game even ignited a social media wildfire against the refs for siding with the Celtics forward.

During the fourth quarter, the Heat made an interesting run to cut down a 22-point lead. Around the fifth-minute mark, the home side brought down the deficit to 13 points. When it turned out to be anyone’s game in the last five minutes, the Kaseya Center witnessed an unfortunate call.

Bam Adebayo tried to block Jayson Tatum‘s three-point attempt after the foul call on Patty Mills. Unluckily, JT stepped on Bam and twisted his and was seen in immense pain. The refs reviewed the play and called a flagrant foul on the Heat center despite contesting Tatum after the whistle. Following the call, the NBA world erupted with wild reactions. A fan described the call, “DIRTY.” 

Here are some more reactions from the fans.

A fan in an attempt to call out the league’s officials, took a vile shot at Jayson Tatum.

Another fan also sounded similar and accused the league for helping the Celtics throughout the round 1 series. They definitely sound like a Heat fan.

This fan claimed that the call wouldn’t be the same if it was committed by a Celtics player.

Following the call, the game’s momentum entirely shifted to the Celtics. They ballooned the lead from 17 points in no time and also engaged in burning the clock. The Heat looked stranded on their home turf and accepted a 102-88 win. After the loss, they go 3-1 down in the series.

How did Bam Adebayo react to the controversial call?

The Heat center looked absolutely clueless with the call. Bam went after the arguing about the call as Tatum attempted for the shot after the whistle. The refs seemed unbothered by his case. The star even headed to JT and asked for his opinion. In the end, frustrated with the situation, Bam was seen saying, “Dirty a** bum.”

This isn’t the first heated moment in the series. It started way back in Game 1. Even though the Celtics took home a blowout win, a small moment in the end sparked a massive reaction. In the final moment of the game, Heat’s Caleb Martin made hard contact with Tatum in mid-air in an attempt to collect a rebound. While it was sorted then and there, it blew out of proportion outside the arena. Speaking of it, Martin said, “If the roles were reversed no one would be calling it a Code Red.” 

Even the Heat star had issues with the soft corner that JT received from the fans and media. Nevertheless, with the series 3-1 down, the Heat would need a miracle to win the series. Notably, Jimmy Butler‘s recovery timeline is still not clear.

Will it be curtains for the Heat in Game 5? Let us know in the comments.