Shorthanded situation works both ways for refs

CELTICS NOTEBOOK

Head referee Mark Lindsay suffered a back injury prior to last night’s game, leaving fellow refs Tony Brothers and Gediminas Petraitis to officiate as a twoman crew.

And that’s how James Harden began his postgame address.

“First of all, how do you only have two officials on a national TV game,” said the Rockets superstar after the Celtics rallied to a 99-98 win. “That is the first question. A lot of grabbing, a lot of holding. How else am I supposed to get open? A guy has two arms wrapped around my whole body.”

Harden probably was referring, in part, to Marcus Smart, who turned the game by picking up two charges on Harden in the final 7.3 seconds.

When asked about Harden’s comments, Celtics guard Kyrie Irving pointed out something else. Two teams had to play under those conditions, with the Celtics getting on Brothers and Petraitis every bit as harshly as the Rockets. Brad Stevens and Marcus Morris were the only Celtics to draw technical fouls out of official-triggered ire.

“I mean, we’re 10 athletes on the floor at one time. A lot of space, I mean, it’s going to make a difference. That’s why we have three refs,” said Irving. “Both teams had to play within that realm and at times it went in their favor. At times it went in our favor. Best way to combat that is just to adjust and I thought both teams did a great job of that.

“Obviously, both teams wished some calls could have gone either way. But it didn’t make a difference having just two refs,” he said. “When I saw both of them out there at the half court and I was like, ‘There’s just two of y’all tonight?’ They were like, ‘Somebody’s hurt.’ I was like, ‘Where’s the backup?’ I asked a legit question . . . I thought usually they have four refs. So there’s one for backup or someone is watching in the back or something. I don’t know the dynamic. But once the ref was hurt, I was like, ‘Both of you guys are gonna do this?’ I was like alright well we’re adjusting. I told my teammates we were gonna have two refs out here, so use that to your advantage.”

In truth, the NBA sends four refs to games — one as a sub — only during the playoffs. The fact Lindsay suffered his injury just before the game left the league without ample time to send in a replacement.

Tatum plays like vet

Houston coach Mike D’Antoni is predicting greatness for Jayson Tatum.

“I think he’s really good, first of all,” he said. “I’m trying to think what I can say without it being tampering. He’s really good and for a rookie, he plays like he’s been in the league for 10 years. He’s going to be a solid if not All-Star level type player for a long, long time. There’s actually nothing he can’t do.”

Green arrives on fly

Gerald Green hadn’t even signed his contract yet, and he was already suited up in the Rockets locker room last night, waiting for official business to be completed.

The team across the hall, which Green was a part of last season, had only four survivors from the summer — Smart, Al Horford, Terry Rozier and Jaylen Brown. But Green has no doubt that what he calls “genius” is behind all of those changes.

“Honestly I was (surprised),” said Green. “But Danny Ainge, he’s a genius man. He knows what he’s doing. Every year he makes changes that nobody knows. And for some reason they always be successful the next year. So I’m pretty happy for where they are.

“Things ended good in Boston. Boston, obviously they made a lot of changes to their roster this year, and it’s for the better,” he said. “They’re the No. 1 team in the East if I’m not mistaken. And they’re doing well. So things for me in Boston did not end bad. It just is what it is.”