Takedown of Jayson Tatum in Game 1 was just a bump in the road on the way to Celtics’ win
Caleb Martin sent Jayson Tatum crashing to the floor. For the most part, the Celtics just shrugged it off en route to victory.
The ball bounced off the front of the rim, Jayson Tatum leapt to grab the rebound, and Miami’s Caleb Martin crashed into him from behind.
Tatum landed on his back inside the paint but seemed unfazed by the impact. He picked himself up off the TD Garden floor right away.
Seeing Tatum take such a spill in the final minute of a game the Celtics led by double digits may have been unsettling, but Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla didn’t feel that way. He was eager to see how Tatum would respond.
“I was waiting to see what he was going to do,” Mazzulla said after the Celtics defeated the Heat, 114-94, in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series Sunday. “I was kind of excited about the whole situation. I enjoyed watching it.”
Tatum walked away calmly. He said he felt fine after the collision, which he didn’t see coming. He didn’t confront Martin because he didn’t have to. Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis were close enough to get face-to-face with Martin within seconds.
Tatum had already made it past the 3-point line before he looked back. . Martin said he understood why Brown reacted the way that he did.
“It was just a hard foul, just trying to stick up for his teammates, I don’t know,” Martin said. “I tried to go help [Tatum] up. I just heard him hit the floor. Obviously, I hit him pretty hard. The momentum was carrying me. I think I got pushed into that direction.
“But hard foul, you try to pick him up, that’s just what it is. If Jimmy [Butler] was on the floor, I would have tried to do the same thing, I’m sure.”
The players were separated and the dustup died down before Tatum got anywhere near it. He walked over to Brown, the pair slapped hands, and Tatum sank both free throws.
Plays like that are a part of playoff basketball, and it likely won’t be the last time he takes a hard hit in this series, Tatum said. Especially against this Heat team, which calls itself the “toughest, meanest, nastiest team in the NBA.”
The word that kept coming up at practice Saturday when the Celtics described what to expect from Miami was “physicality.”
The Celtics held their ground, according to Porzingis, who said he enjoyed the challenge.
“I think we matched it,” Porzingis said of Miami’s physicality. “We did a pretty good job, I would say. I don’t know if it was an accident or not. Those kinds of plays happen. A little bit of action, I think, is good during the playoffs, so that was fun.”
Porzingis was matched up with Bam Adebayo, who was Miami’s top offensive option Sunday. Adebayo scored a team-high 24 points on 10-for-18 shooting in 36 minutes.
When asked if he’s taking the challenge of guarding Adebayo personally, Porzingis said. “No, this is business. Of course we want to stop him as much as possible, but understanding that they’re going to play through him all the time. He’s going to be involved in all the situations.
“I don’t care about him. I care about our team and what we’re trying to achieve. This is not one-on-one, me against Bam, you know. It’s Celtics against Heat, so we’ll make sure that’s our focus.”
Tatum’s collision at the end and Derrick White running head-first into Adebayo’s shoulder on a hard screen are just two examples of how physical this series can be.
The Celtics took control early and stood strong for most of the game. Miami picked up steam late and cut into the lead, but in the end, the Celtics’ effort was enough for a series-opening win.
“I think there was a four- or five-minute stretch where we didn’t handle it well, but I thought [we did] for the other 42-43 minutes,” Mazzulla said. “That’s the recipe.
“The balance is having the humility to do it even better. Eleven turnovers, got them on the shot margin, didn’t foul, and held them to five offensive rebounds. The adjustment is to do it better with more physicality and we have to be ready to do that.”
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