See, this is the exact type of situation where Stevens needs to be roasting these officials - in the past 10 minutes I have seen 3 specific plays where the Celtics player went straight up to contest a shot in the lane area, where the replay showed NO CONTACT whatsoever on the shooter's arms and minimal contact on the body that was mostly initiated by the Pelicans' player's momentum and the shooting foul was called anyway. Plus the illegal screen call on RWilliams where he is called for a foul for releasing from the pick to roll to the basket.
As a result, Pelicans cut the lead to 14 with a quarter+ to play and the possibility of another blown lead by Boston. Stevens gets in the officials ear and maybe we get a few calls going our way and New Orleans does not cut a 22-point lead to 13 at the end of the third quarter, now making the 4th a tough fight to get a win that should have been a blowout. We also get the added bonus of the players feeling some strong support from their coach in a tough road game, which is a great motivator and brings the team together.
Brad being polite is not going to get us through a title run.