Tonight, as the Boston Celtics took on the New York Knicks at TD Garden, one moment stood out. On the nationally televised broadcast, fans and commentators were shocked as, in the first quarter, Knicks big man Mitchell Robinson was fouled off the ball immediately, sending him to the free-throw line.

Those unfamiliar with these teams’ matchups probably questioned why Boston was giving away free points, but everything soon became clear. Robinson, a notoriously bad free-throw shooter, missed three of his four foul shots before being benched, leaving the Knicks’ offense stuck.

Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla is no stranger to using strange tactics to take any advantage over his foes, and this one in particular has been witnessed multiple times before. During last year’s playoff series between the two teams, Mazzulla heavily employed the ‘Hack-a-Mitch’ play, where his players would run to the center and foul him as soon as he touched the floor, completely neutralizing his absurd offensive rebounding skills.

This season, Robinson is a horrid 15.4% from the charity stripe, but grabs a astounding 4.5 offensive rebounds per game in just 17.3 minutes, ranking fourth in the league in that statistic, behind Walker Kessler, Donovan Clingan, and Steven Adams. Putting him at the line effectively wastes any Knicks possessions while also giving the Celtics more time, since the foul counts as a dead ball.

Robinson isn’t the first player to face these tactics. The move, widely known as ‘Hack-a-Shaq‘ rules for their widespread usage against the NBA legend Shaquille O’ Neal, and have also seen usage against historically bad free throw shooters like Dwight Howard, DeAndre Jordan, and Ben Simmons amongst others.

The NBA has taken steps to try to stop this from lengthening games. Starting in the 2016-17 season, off-ball fouls in the final two minutes of each quarter awarded the fouled team free throws as well as possession of the ball. However, this hasn’t stopped coaches, like Mazzulla, from trying to find edge cases to gain advantages.

Fans Sound Off on Joe Mazzulla’s Controversial Hack-a-Mitch Strategy

Social media was split on Joe Mazzulla’s strategy of intentionally fouling Robinson, with many expressing that it made the game unpleasant to watch. “Disgusting behavior,” one fan wrote, calling out the Celtics coach for crossing the line of sportsmanship.

However, others defended the decision as smart basketball, sparking debate. One comment read, “Real hoops,” praising Mazzulla for doubling down on the strategy as a part of the competitive edge he expressed, even during a regular season game in December.

Some viewers were stunned by Robinson’s inability to capitalize on the opportunities given to him by the Celtics. One wrote, “A professional not being able to make an unguarded shot consistently is what’s crazy,” arguing that the root issue was the Knicks center’s inability to improve on his blind spots as opposing teams continue to expose his flaws.

One user pointed to another potential use for the strategy, writing, “ROCKETS IN PLAYOFFS LOL.” The Houston Rockets employ some of the best offensive rebounders at their positions in Amen Thompson and Steven Adams. However, both of them have struggled to make free throws in the past. Thompson’s career free-throw percentage sits just under 70%, while Adams’s sits at an abysmal 53.7%.

For most of the viewers, though, the moment symbolized something that was just annoying to watch. “Games gone man,” one viewer wrote, summing up the disruption of the rhythm of the game that many users complained about online.