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Udoka bemoans 'poor no-call' late in Celtics' narrow loss

Stacy Revere / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka chided the referees following his team's 103-101 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks for deeming a late foul by Jrue Holiday on Marcus Smart on the floor as opposed to a shooting foul.

"He caught the ball, he's turning into a shot," Udoka said, according to ESPN's Andrew Lopez. "Both feet set. You can't say that's a sweep. You're going into a shot. That's a poor call. Poor no-call."

With 4.6 seconds left in the game and the Celtics down three, Smart caught a dribble handoff from Jaylen Brown just beyond the 3-point line when Holiday fouled him. Smart argued he was in the motion of shooting, which would have given him the opportunity to tie the game with three free throws. However, officials ruled he wasn't attempting a shot, meaning he only received two shots.

Smart converted his first free throw and purposely missed his second to try and set up a putback that would send the game to overtime. It nearly worked, but Al Horford's tip-in didn't beat the final buzzer, and the Bucks narrowly held on to take a 2-1 series lead.

Smart, who missed Game 2 on Tuesday due to a quad issue, insisted after the defeat that he should have been given three free throws.

"You need three (points) with 4.6 seconds, they know we need three," he said. "We know they are gonna foul. It's not like he got me when it was down low.

"I was already in my shooting motion. I thought it was gonna be three free throws, they said it wasn't."

Boston will get a chance to even up the series again Monday in Milwaukee.

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