Free throws are an integral part of today’s game, and NBA referees find themselves under immense pressure, especially in crunch time, when deciding whether to award them or deny a team the opportunity. On Saturday, the Boston Celtics, unfortunately, found no luck on that aspect of the game and Jaylen Brown did not mince words after the game.
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The Celtics lost 95-100 to the San Antonio Spurs and Brown feels it was down to the fact that his side converted just three shots out of four from the free throw line. San Antonio, on the other hand, got 20 attempts and scored 14. That, on paper, was the difference in the five point loss for Brown and Co.
Brown knew he would be fined the moment he criticized the referees postgame, but that did not stop him. He acknowledged that the Spurs’ defense was elite, but argued it could not possibly have been so good as to limit the No. 3 team in the East, which averages 15 free throws per game, to just four.
“I’ll accept the fine at this point,” Brown began, as seen in a video shared on X. “I thought it was some bullshit tonight. They’re a good defensive team, but they ain’t that damn good.”
Brown then pointed out that this has been the case every time the Celtics have faced a ‘good’ team during the 2025–26 season, alleging that referees have consistently refused to make calls.
“I hope somebody can just pull up the clips, because it’s the same shit every time we play a good team. It’s like they refuse to make a call, then they call touch fouls on the other end, and that’s just extremely frustrating, bro,” he added.
Jaylen Brown sounded off on the officiating after the Celtics attempted just 4 free-throws tonight:
“I’ll accept the fine at this point. I thought it was some bullshit tonight. They’re a good defensive team, but they ain’t that damn good. I hope somebody can just pull up the… pic.twitter.com/p1hybbCamx
— Justin Turpin (@JustinmTurpin) January 11, 2026
This has become a recurring pattern all across the league, though. Many teams and its star players along with the coaches have openly started criticizing the officials because of their seemingly atrocious decision making skills. Blatant fouls and goal-tendings remain missed. But a ghost touch on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander gets called from 40 feet away.
For the Celtics, this loss to the Spurs won’t mean the end of the world. They still are within an arms distance of the #2 spot and can even make it to #1 if the Pistons slip at one point. But it was a stinging defeat that ultimately came down to the officials.
