The Heat rallied Thursday night to take a 2-0 series lead over the Celtics, but the real action was after the game in Boston’s locker room. Malika Andrews of ESPN and Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe both sent out a series of tweets describing angry exchanges and the sound of things being thrown, with much of the yelling coming from Celtics guard Marcus Smart, writes Sam Amick of The Athletic.
Smart, a fiery leader both on and off the court, was reacting after his team let a double-digit lead slip away for the second straight game in the conference finals. Boston led by 17 points in the first half and held an eight-point edge early in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t hold off Miami.
Afterward, a Celtics assistant coach and a team security official mistakenly opened the locker room door and let reporters hear the raw emotions inside. It took nearly 30 minutes before the media were given access to players, Amick adds.
Much of the commotion involved a confrontation between Smart and Jaylen Brown, who had to be separated by teammates, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic. Sources tell Charania that Smart came into the locker room complaining that he gets too much blame when things go wrong and saying that other players need to be held accountable as well. As Smart got louder, Brown responded that the players needed to stick together and told Smart to calm down. Sources also noted that Smart had verbal confrontations with assistant coaches during the game.
Sources confirmed that objects were thrown in the exchange between Smart and Brown, but teammates were able to separate them before the dispute turned physical. A source said they have already smoothed things over and are focusing on Game 3.
Brown downplayed the incident when talking to reporters, saying Smart was just trying to motivate the team for the rest of the series.
“A lot of emotions flying around,” Brown said. “I think that’s why we love Marcus. You know, he plays with passion, he’s full of fire, and that’s what I love about him most, to be honest. He has that desire and will, and we need him to continue to have that. It’s ups and downs with families all the time, but we embrace each other for who we are. And who Marcus is, I love him for it. So you’ve got to get ready to come back, take that same fire, (and) add it to Game 3.”
I guess Kyrie wasn’t the only issue with this team……..
Probably just the biggest one. Sounds like Smart is filling his shoes well, though. This incident sounds detrimental rather than motivational. I know Brown has to downplay it, but it sounds like Smart was b*tching and complaining rather than trying to motivate. My guess is that this is an indication that the Celtics are likely not coming back from this deficit and the series will be over in 5 if it’s not a sweep.
I have no idea what the argument was about, Smart has done nothing wrong this series while Brown and Tatum have made a ton of mistakes. They play very sloppy and lackadaisical like uncoached rookies. Not sure if that’s a Brad problem or it’s just them. But all those turnovers and all those defensive possessions where open 3’s were made are inexcusable on any NBA team.
Sloppy play is exactly their problem, especially Tatum and walker. Every night they’re charging charging the rim into triple coverage with 20 seconds on the shot clock.
Boston should slow the game down, but that’s not their style. Or at least, they do not regulate well. It may be that each player wants to be the one to take the shot first. But if they stay fast, Miami’s stamina advantage will take over.
In defense, Boston has no answers against Adebayo pick and roll, and offensively Miami are shutting them down with the zone defense. I don’t really think it’s a problem of slowing the game down.
They score well enough that they don’t have to solve that problem though. If they simply gave the ball away less often (especially in 4th quarters) they’d be up 2-0.
If they knew how to attack Miami’s zone (yesterday in the 3rd, for instance) everything would be decided by the 4th quarters.
Yes too many turnovers— sloppiness— usually points to a pace that should be slowed. Also, it’s something that can be controlled, unlike factors that require greater talent to fix. It’s too late now to fix not having Adebayo or more depth.
Sloppy Play? That’s ok, we can always turn it on when it counts. – The Clippers
The article states that Smart was upset that he gets too much blame when things go wrong for the team and that other players need to be held accountable. True or not, that sounds like a bad way to bring it up, especially if it results in yelling and throwing things against walls.
They’re done.
I don’t see anyone is selfish
Just too many turnover 20
Field goal attempts
Heat 90
Celtics 72
Guys get passive in crunch time and get out their offense. Smart tries to hard to create. Hopefully if Hayward comes back there will be an added facilitator.
Outside of turn over celtics d leaves a lot to be desired. Played better against raptors. Guess the heat are real
Whoever wins this series wins the whole thing.
That is highly unlikely.
Could Marcus Smart be made available in trade? I’d love him on the Warriors. Absolutely love him on the Warriors. Celtics could use that 17 million-dollar trade exception to get out from under the pain of salary cap hell.
Crumble, crumble, crumble…
So last night there was a post on this site with a link to a story about how the Celtics are prepared for this series and how they weren’t going to dwell on the frustration of losing and move forward. Less than 14 hours later we here about physical fighting and throwing things. Clearly that first article was poor journalism.
I like smart.. brown is becoming a beast.. tatum is young but is not afraid of taking the last shot.. I think the problem with Boston is they really don’t have and effective bench.. the starters have to take the majority of the scoring.. Kemba after being in a losing situation in Charlotte is wilting under the pressure.. there’s something to be said about being the best player on a losing team.. can he lead a team with expectations to win.. I’m not seeing it.
Agreed, they have zero bench. Miami goes 10 deep.
They also need a big who can facilitate . It would be helpful to beat the zone
BOS looks as good as done.
MIA are 16-0 on series were they go up 2-0
BOS are 2-15 on series were they go down 0-2
I said it before BOS hasn’t got an answer in either end for Bam, & so far that is the key!
Smart has always been a wild card emotionally. . With him you have to take the good with the bad.
Celtics getting as far as they have this year was a surprise to just about everyone. They need a couple of solid vets in rotation roles, even if Hayward didn’t go down this team has no depths.
I don’t even know who has been blaming Smart for anything? He’s gotten nothing but praise the whole playoffs
It could be way he rolls, OR
If one plans to insult someone else, and you know everyone will be in a locked room, one could start a tirade by blaming oneself.
That way one sounds more fair when one gets around to their true point.
Marcus needs the ball more. They stopped giving him the ball at the end of game 1 and everyone was playing hero ball. Marcus is the glue. Let him eat.
Smart ass..
Sounds like smart being smart and Brown being brown. Neither is the problem, both are coachable. Both attacked the basket and were aggressive defensively in game 3 and you have to think that was the message from Stevens going into the game.
Tatum and Walker take to many bad shots early in the shot clock. Walker can only attack the basket so much being 6 or 6’1, speed and quickness only do so much when things slow down. Theis is always in foul trouble , sometimes deservedly and sometimes not, but so goes life. Celtics faults for not having another defensive big with passable offensive play. Steven’s needs to call more plays when things stagnate and Boston in general needs to stop passing up that 10-13ft jumper when Miami goes zone, contested or not. Unless your obviously going to get rejected that’s a shot you need to make in the NBA contested or not.