Boston Celtics bagged an unwanted record as they became the first team in NBA history to shoot zero free throws in a 104-91 loss to Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday. Interestingly, the Bucks only shot two, thus the two teams set a new record for the fewest total free throws shot during an NBA game.
“Man, Adam Silver’s the happiest,” Bucks head coach Doc Rivers said, referring to the NBA commissioner, per ESPN. “One hour 57 [minutes] game time. My goodness, you can go to a game and still have dinner. Unbelievable.
“I thought it was a physical game and then they handed me the stat sheet, and I told them: ‘No, I need the full game.’
“I thought it was the halftime stats. I didn’t look at the minutes and then I said: ‘Wow, two free throws for a basketball game. That’s crazy.’”
Before the start of the 2021-22 season, the NBA made a new rule that states that referees should not award fouls drawn by players using “overt, abrupt or abnormal non-basketball moves.”
“It was weird, but it seems to be the trend,” Bucks guard Damian Lillard said. “Fouls are not a part of the game no more.
“It’s like, I’ve had times where I thought I was getting fouled and there’s been other times where I was surprised a foul didn’t get called on me, where I might bump somebody or get a piece of somebody’s arm and they don’t call it, and I’m like: ‘Man, they’re really just letting us play.’
“And then, like the other night, I fouled out with like two minutes left in the game. I fouled out twice in our last five games or something like that. I hadn’t fouled out in I don’t know how long before this. You’ve just got to roll with however the game is going. Tonight, I hardly remember any whistles.”
Meanwhile, the Milwaukee Bucks suffered a huge blow as their big man Giannis Antetokounmpo suffered a calf injury, which has ruled him out of the rest of the regular season matches.
“He’s Giannis,” Rivers added. “I think everyone probably feels the same way as I do right now. We’re just going to hope for the best.”
Boston Celtics will next take on the New York Knicks on Thursday night.
