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Joe Mazzulla, Brian Scalabrine react to Caleb Martin’s ‘dirty’ foul on Jayson Tatum
"A guy goes up, and you just ram into him? That ain’t basketball.”
The Celtics’ convincing win over the Heat in Game 1 of their first-round series could have ended as a pyrrhic victory — based on how Jayson Tatum felt postgame.
In the closing minute of the fourth quarter, Tatum hit the parquet floor hard after Miami Heat forward Caleb Martin undercut him while the Celtics star jumped up to corral a rebound.
Tatum got back on his feet quickly after hitting the deck, but Jaylen Brown immediately took exception to Martin’s foul — jawing with the Heat forward and starting a small scrum.
Tatum noted postgame that he felt “fine” and wasn’t hurt after his hard fall.
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Speaking after Boston’s eventual 114-91 victory on Sunday, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla had an unsurprising reaction to Martin’s foul and the subsequent brouhaha that broke out on the hardwood.
“I was just thinking, I was waiting to see what (Brown) was going to do,” Mazzulla said of the altercation. “I was kind of excited about the whole situation. So I enjoyed watching it.”
Joe Mazzulla might have made the switch from player to coach, but it’s clear that his competitiveness hasn’t waned since moving to the sideline. Speaking earlier this season, Mazzulla admitted he was told to stop trying to block shots from opposing players following a timeout.
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While Mazzulla was focused more on Brown’s response after Martin’s foul, former Celtics forward and current NBC Sports Boston analyst Brian Scalabrine didn’t mince words when asked about Martin’s actions — as well as Heat coach Erik Spoelstra’s strategy during those final minutes of a blowout game.
“I’m not trying to start nothing here, but Erik Spoelstra called a timeout with 1:30 left down by 16,” Scalabrine said. “Thirty seconds later, that play happens. Thirty seconds later. Why is he calling a timeout with 1:30? Why is that play happening, that play right there, 30 seconds later? That looked shady to me.”
“To me, it’s a dirty play,” he added. “I think anybody that looks at that, I think Martin should get suspended for that. That’s a dirty play. You can’t do that. Just think about that. The NBA is about the star players. The idea of winning an NBA championship is your star players have to stay healthy. And a guy goes up, and you just ram into him? That ain’t basketball.”
Martin’s late foul and the subsequent scrum should add some fuel to this first-round series, which will resume at TD Garden on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
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