The Boston Celtics easily took Game 1 of their first-round playoff series over the Miami Heat on Sunday, winning 114-94. However, the victory didn’t come without a bit of controversy.
Late in the fourth quarter, with the game already decided, Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra called a suspicious timeout seconds before forward Caleb Martin seemingly rammed purposefully into Celtics star Jayson Tatum. After the final whistle, former Celtic Brian Scalabrine questioned Miami’s motives.
“I’m not trying to start nothing here, but, Erik Spoelstra calls a timeout with 1:30, down by 16 — 30 seconds lat that play happens,” Scalabrine said. “I don’t know, man, that looked shady to me.”
Scalabrine went on to say that what Martin did “wasn’t a basketball play” while calling for a possible suspension from the NBA for his actions.
While it might be fair to debate the timing of the incident, Scalabrine is probably making much ado about nothing.
For starters, Spoelstra has been a head coach in the NBA for 16 seasons and has never been branded as “dirty” nor the type of bench boss who would dispatch his players to rough up another.
It’s possible that Martin acted alone, but it’s more likely that he let his competitiveness get the best of him.
Perhaps the most important question to emerge from the mess is why Tatum was on the floor, to begin with. While it doesn’t excuse Martin’s actions, it’s reasonable to ask why Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla felt it necessary to risk arguably his best player’s health during what amounted to meaningless minutes.
Either way, Tatum, who recorded a triple-double of 23 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in the win, seems no worse for the wear after the brief scare.
It remains to be seen whether Sunday’s run-in leads to any more shenanigans in Game 2, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Celtics respond in some form or fashion.
