The Boston Celtics vs. Chicago Bulls game had a wild ending. The visiting team managed to pull off a stellar upset, but that didn’t steal the attention. In the game’s final minutes, officials called three technical fouls on the Shamrocks. Joe Mazzulla, among those who got fined, raced in anger toward one of the referees. The hostility didn’t stop there as team captain Jaylen Brown expressed disdain for some calls in a fiery press conference.

A few weeks ago, Brown was handed a $25,000 fine for an “inappropriate gesture” against the Pistons. He felt it was just too. However, tonight contradicted the grounds behind his penalty. The reigning Finals MVP felt the official used his whistle as a ‘threat’ and ultimately cost the Celtics.

“You can’t threaten guys with a technical foul. That’s not part of the game either. You know you want to find people for gestures and all this stuff, fine that. Like that’s some b*****it. We were down three at that time on the jump ball and that led to us being down 8. You know that affects the game. That could have been avoided,” said Jaylen Brown.

In terms of free throws, there wasn’t much of a disparity. The Bulls shot five less than the Celtics. But there were some questionable decisions that the Shamrocks felt should have gone their way. Additionally, the technical fouls allowed the Bulls to extend their lead, which gave them a comfortable cushion to see out the game.

But even with some terrible calls, the Celtics lost mainly because their core strategy fell apart.

Threes become the Celtics’ downfall in the loss to the Bulls after Jaylen Brown’s officiating rant

Significantly, Boston Celtics play the game with a rather direct principle. They take the most threes and make the most threes. Likewise, it keeps them compact in transition, paving the way for a thunderous defense. But tonight, even with lethal shooters, those shots didn’t fall. The Celtics only shot 25% from three with more than half of their attempts coming from downtown.

Among them, only Jayson Tatum and Payton Pritchard shot over 35% from a distance. The likes of Jrue Holiday, Jaylen Brown, and Derrick White only combined to hit four triples. On the other hand, the Chicago Bulls used their splashy shooting to do damage to the Boston Celtics. The spearhead was not Zach Lavine.

The Bulls star is currently a major attraction to be traded. Tonight, he may have given the Bulls some second thoughts. The explosive athlete scored a game-high 36 points, hitting six threes in his unraveling of Boston. All the starters for Chicago also scored in double digits, virtually burying the Celtics.

While a little luck may have been involved, the Bulls showed resilience turning around an 8-point deficit in the final quarter through great shot-making and tenacity. The game will without question be a topic of major scrutiny due to the officiating. But even though Mazzulla felt a certain way about it, he will most likely pin his team’s performance as the larger reason behind the result.

Do you think the Celtics would have won if not for those calls? Let us know your views in the comments below.