Sixers

Doc Rivers Says No-Call on Jayson Tatum Push Off was “Awful”

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: May 8th, 2023 · 9:48 AM EDT

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Doc is right:

Doc Rivers is angry about Jayson Tatum’s push off 😳 pic.twitter.com/fYLMFhKOhY

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) May 7, 2023

In real time, the push didn’t look egregious, but Cog clipped the back angle from the replay, and you can clearly see the forearm extension:

Sixers somehow win despite Tatum getting away with one of the most egregious offensive fouls in playoff history. pic.twitter.com/NxgLluRRTh

— CogginToboggan (@CogginToboggan) May 7, 2023

Flip the play around. Imagine Marcus Smart is guarding James Harden. Smart is probably on his rear end and sliding into the crowd, yes? He would have sold that looking for the foul.

Tyrese Maxey doesn’t do it. He tries to keep his feet and stumbles backward, which suggests a legitimate attempt to stay up, play defense, and then contest the shot. That’s what should key everyone in to the fact that this was a legit push with legit forearm extension that had legit force behind it.

Plus, when you go back earlier in the playoffs, James Harden got a tech for something that may not even have been as blatant as this push. He uses the forearm and Tatum uses the forearm, and it’s part of their regular repertoire to create space, so all we’re really asking for is some consistency here. Some of these sequences are much more obvious than the others, and this one qualifies.

For anyone that wants to see the Tatum push pic.twitter.com/PxAUfilly6

— Jojo Fro (@embiizus) May 7, 2023