INTERVIEW CONDUCTED BY ANDREW LOPEZ (ESPN) WITH CREW CHIEF MARC DAVIS FOLLOWING TODAY’S BOSTON CELTICS VS. PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS GAME

August 2, 2020

QUESTION: SHOULD THE PLAY HAVE BEEN A BACKCOURT VIOLATION? WHY OR WHY NOT?

DAVIS: “The backcourt violation was correctly judged. When a ball goes from frontcourt to backcourt status while in control of the team – that is a backcourt violation, the definition of it. Jayson Tatum threw the pass from the backcourt, his momentum caused the ball to break the plane of the mid-court line thus making it frontcourt status, and then when Gordon Hayward received the pass his back foot was in the backcourt, thus changing it from frontcourt status to backcourt status and the play was correctly judged a backcourt violation.”

QUESTION: SO TO BE CLEAR, IT’S WHERE THE BALL IS AND NOT NECESSARILY WHERE THE PLAYER IS?

DAVIS: “That’s correct. Once the ball crosses the plane of the mid-court line it achieves frontcourt status. When Gordon Hayward touched it with his foot in the backcourt, he changed the status from frontcourt to backcourt – making it a backcourt violation.”

QUESTION: COULD THE CELTICS HAVE CHALLENGED THAT CALL?

DAVIS: “No. It is neither Coach’s Challenge or a reviewable matter.”