"Not the Celtics fans crying about a ref": Celtics fans' accusation of Pacers' ref-fueled streak under Williams backfires 

Boston Celtics fans weren't pleased with the officiating as a controversial call played a key role in the team's 131-133 loss to the Indiana Pacers at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse Arena on Monday. Jaylen Brown was bang in the middle of it when referee James Williams made an egregious call despite video evidence suggesting otherwise. With 3.2 seconds left in the game, Brown was supposed to be at the charity stripe after being hit on the head by Pacers sharpshooter Buddy Hield. However, the call was overturned and Brown's 40-point performance went in vain as Indiana pipped their conference rivals in a close contest.

While Brown fumed, so did the Celtics fans who did some digging and uncovered that Williams had attended high school and college in Indiana, and the Pacers were 35-3 when he officiated games for them.

To this, Pacers fans responded in double quick time:

This was seconded by some more responses:

Pacers fans slammed Celtics fanbase for complaining about the officiating

The Pacers were referring to retired referee Eric Lewis who stirred controversy last season when the league investigated him for allegedly using a burner account to defend himself and other referees. He later announced his retirement which resulted in the NBA closing the investigation on his social media activity. He was reportedly accused by various fan bases of favoring the Celtics.

The Celtics fans were seething even at the arena, but the referee's decision prevailed in the end. Assisting Jaylen Brown was Jrue Holiday with 21 points, while Kristaps Porzingis had 19 points. For the Pacers, Benedict Mathurin starred with 26 points, while forward Aaron Nesmith had 17 points to show for it.

---

Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla says Buddy Hield admitted to fouling Jaylen Brown

On his part, Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla was keen on the NBA's last two-minute report as it would show what exactly happened. Speaking to the media in the aftermath of the loss, he said Hield had admitted to fouling Brown and was eager to see what the report would say.

“We’ll see what happens tomorrow at 4 p.m. I can’t wait until 4 o’clock. Buddy Hield told me he fouled him, so I can’t wait for the Last Two Minute Report," Mazzulla said (via Sports Illustrated).

After the call was overturned, Indiana had the possession and with 0.6 seconds left on the clock, Porzingis fouled Mathurin during his three-point attempt. The latter made two of his three shots, giving the Pacers a two-point lead and Boston's final attempt at tying the game was unsuccessful.

Jaylen Brown and Boston will look to put the controversial game behind them as they host the West's number one team Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday (Jan. 10) at 7 pm ET.