Celtics become first team in history to play an entire game without shooting a free throw

Bucks and Celtics produced one of the strangest games in recent history, as only two free-throw attempts were recorded this Tuesday night at the Fiserv Forum. The visiting team also became the first club to ever play an entire match without having a single attempt from the foul line. 

The only player who shot that night was Giannis Antetokounmpo, who dropped in one of his two chances. Even though he eventually had to leave the game due to a calf injury, his team ended up winning the contest 104-91.

“Man, [NBA commissioner] Adam Silver’s the happiest,” Milwaukee coach Doc Rivers joked once the game was over. “1:57 game time. My goodness, you can go to a game and still have dinner. Unbelievable.”

ONLY 2 FREE THROWS WERE ATTEMPTED IN BUCKS-CELTICS 😱

The FEWEST FT attempts since 1983 😳 pic.twitter.com/momcOU9fjD

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 10, 2024

The legendary tactician admitted that he didn’t realise there were so few free throws until after the match. “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,'” he said. “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.'”

Both the Grizzlies and Hawks shared a previous mark back in 2014 and 2018 respectively, when they only attempted one free throw in a game. This past Tuesday, the Bucks only committed four fouls that night, which was the fewest recorded in history.

The last time so few attempts occurred was on November 10, 2019, when the Magic shot 5 in a clash against the Pacers who had 6, just 11 in total. “Maybe just gearing up for the playoffs,”Jayson Tatum said about this curious NBA tie. “They’re going to let a lot of things go, I guess just getting us ready for playoff basketball.”

One of the most surprising qualities of this new record was the fact that it came in a game between Boston and Milwaukee, two of the most offensive teams in the league. Antetokounmpo, for example, came into the contest with an NBA-leading 780 free throw attempts, while Damian Lillard is seventh and Tatum eighth.

Bucks superstar claims he’s noticed that the foul calls have been going down across the league late this season

This Tuesday evening, the curious clash between the two Eastern Conference giants was officiated by a crew that featured Danielle Scott, Marc Davis and Ben Taylor. Point guard Damian Lillard is convinced that late this campaign the referees were instructed to give out less foul calls, as he guarantees they’ve gone down.

“It was weird, but it seems to be the trend,” the former Portland star 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.'”

Nevertheless, Dame claims that sometimes the officiating has a completely opposite effect, and referees considers too many fouls where it didn’t really seem like it.

“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,” he recalled.