Magic coach calls out officiating, Celtics’ comments after Game 4

With the Magic on the brink of elimination at the hands of the Celtics, Orlando head coach Jamahl Mosley took the officiating to task following a Game 4 loss at Kia Center.

The Magic’s physicality against the defending champions in this series has been a regular narrative — prompting Jaylen Brown to offer up his own candid thoughts about what he saw as the lack of accountability from the refs after Orlando doled out three flagrant fouls over the series’ first three games. 

“There might be a fight break out or something,” Brown said Friday night after Boston’s Game 3 loss. “Because it’s starting to feel like it’s not even basketball, and the refs are not controlling the environment. So, it is what it is.

“If you want to fight it out, we can do that. We can fight to see who goes to the second round.”

While the Magic continued to play aggressively against Boston on Sunday night, the Celtics made Orlando pay by piling up points at the charity stripe. 

Even though Orlando left the court without another flagrant in Game 4, the team was still knocked for 24 personal fouls, which allowed Boston to sink a season-best 30 free throws on 32 total attempts. 

That regular scoring source via free throws loomed large in Boston’s eventual 107-98 win — prompting Mosley to deliver his own spiel regarding gamesmanship on Sunday. 

“We were attacking the basket the exact same way,” Mosley told reporters postgame. “Now, we didn’t knock them down when we got there. We had to understand that the calls, the whistle was going to head in that direction after what’s been said. 

“So we have to continue to just be smart there, hold our ground, get positioning earlier and make sure we show our hands.”

While the Celtics sank 30-of-32 shots from the free-throw line, Orlando was 14-for-20 from the charity stripe in Game 4. 

Given the correlation between Brown’s comments and Boston’s uptick in free-throw attempts, Mosley seemingly attempted to spin the narrative back toward his team entering a do-or-die Game 5 on Tuesday night at TD Garden. 

“I always look at our ability to attack the rim. … Them shooting, let’s just say, 26 free throws before the back stretch; you look at those margins and they’re very similar attacks, but it’s not the same foul count,” Mosley said. “Whether that’s the physicality part of it or not, it’s just something we look at.”

Regardless of the disparity in foul calls, the Celtics opted to not play into Orlando’s preferred gameplan of slugging things out on the court during Sunday’s victory. 

Rather than try to match Orlando’s physicality by doling out fouls of their own, Boston played steady basketball down the stretch on Sunday, committing just two fouls in the fourth quarter.

Down the other end of the court, the Magic were whistled for eight fouls in the fourth, giving Boston a consistent avenue to pad their lead — with Tatum going 9-for-9 on his free throws over that stretch.

It’s to be expected for the Magic to once again try to push around the Celtics in Game 5 in hopes of knocking Boston off its game. 

But the Celtics’ composure down critical stretches in Game 4 indicates Boston might have the mettle to deliver a knockout punch against Orlando Tuesday night.

 

Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.