Evan Turner didn’t take too kindly to the Hawks’ come-from-behind win over the Celtics Tuesday night.
The Celtics guard lamented the physical play in the game in which the Hawks erased a 23-point first-half deficit for a 109-105 victory.
Turner took particular exception to a third-quarter foul call when he was whistled for tripping Kyle Korver.
“They started pressuring and it’s tough to score when you have two hands inside your jersey as well,” Turner told Boston reporters after the game. “At the same time, I got a foul call on Korver and they said I pushed him and tripped him and he just fell.
“He can’t guard to save his life and he’s grabbing Marcus Thornton and he’s grabbing me and he has no business being in the game on the defensive end but what can you possibly do if they’re allowed to have their hands on you?”
Turner notably got in a fight with teammate Lance Stephenson with the Pacers last season during the playoff series against the Hawks.
Celtics coach Brad Stevens said before Tuesday’s game that Korver was a player his team had to keep an eye on. Stevens said if you don’t guard Korver as a 30-point scorer, he just might put that many points up.
Korver finished with a team-high 24 points, making 6 of 7 3-pointers. He became the first player in the NBA this season to score at least 24 points on less than 10 field goal attempts. Korver is averaging 13.6 points a game this season. He has scored 20-or-more points four times and has made at least six 3-pointers three times.
Defensively, Korver leads the Hawks, and is 35th in the NBA, in the plus-minus statistical category with a plus-89.
On Tuesday, the Celtics were called for 20 fouls compared to 14 for the Hawks. The Celtics shot 13 free throws while the Hawks shot 14.
