Heat and Celtic produced one of the most exciting matchups of the weekend in the NBA, as the Massachusetts squad took home the victory after a tight 110-106 win at the Kaseya Center. One of the main reasons over why the clash was so heated was due to the constant confrontations between Jaylen Brown and Duncan Robinson throughout the game.
Not only was there no love lost between both athletes, but things only escalated after Boston‘s victory, as they took digs at each other during the postgame interviews.
The tensions reached boiling point midway through the fourth quarter, when the two players got tangled up as Jaylen tried to receive a ball from teammate Derrick White, and Duncan’s arm latched onto him. The All-Star preceded to send the guard into the stands as he attempted to get him off.
A flagrant foul 1 was then assessed to Brown, after both rivals exchanged words at the free throw line. After the match, Robinson called the play “dirty” and believes things could’ve been worse. “Just thought it was dangerous, unnecessary and excessive,” he said.
The Celtics guard had no problems with his own actions, and explained why his opponent was to blame. “There was no issue for me,” he expressed. “I think he knew exactly what he was trying to do. Trying to get tangled up, etc., because he didn’t want to play defense. They called the foul, but he was still trying to hang on, so I was trying to get my arm free.”
“Miami’s known for being physical. Miami’s known for getting away with a lot of that stuff, kind of mucking up the game. You know, at the end of the day, you got to protect and own your space. I feel like Duncan Robinson knew what he was doing there, trying to get tangled up, trying to draw whatever. I don’t know what he was trying to do, but I bet you he won’t do it again,” Jaylen added.
His coach Joe Mazzulla shared the same sentiment as his pupil, and even shared why he has no problem with these kind of on-court exchanges. “I thought JB handled it really well,” he claimed. “I really liked the altercation at the free throw line afterward [when the two exchanged words]. I thought that was tremendous and it was great for us. It was beautiful.”
Heat’s Terry Rozier and Josh Richardson got injured during their team’s defeat this weekend
The Miami squad entered the match without Jimmy Butler, as their star forward was ruled out earlier that day due to personal reasons. According to a team statement, he currently “deals with the death of a family member.” During the match, two other players fell to injury and had to leave the game.
“It’s tough to see guys like that go down,” Robinson said about Terry Rozier and Josh Richardson’s health issues. “And then Jimmy dealing with what he’s dealing with is unfortunate, to put it lightly.”
Terry Rozier is headed to the locker room after landing on his leg. pic.twitter.com/rP521Sh8vL
— ESPN (@espn) February 11, 2024
Richardson exited early in the contest because of a right shoulder injury, as he dropped to the floor in pain after a failed attempt to take the ball off of Jayson Tatum’s hands.
“I felt my shoulder pop out on the floor and then it popped back in laying on the ground, so thank goodness for that,” Josh said postgame. “I’ll know more tomorrow.”
