Late in Game 1 of Sunday’s series opener between the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics, Heat forward Caleb Martin took down Celtics forward Jayson Tatum with a physical play under the rim.
The play came shortly after the Heat had called a timeout, which raised the eyebrows of former Celtics big man Brian Scalabrine.
Scalabrine implied after the game that Erik Spoelstra’s squad may have been intentionally trying to injure the Celtics star.
Brian Scalabrine thinks the Heat and Caleb Martin tried to take out Jayson Tatum
"Erik Spoelstra called a timeout with a 1:30 left down by 16, 30 seconds later that play happens… that looked shady to me."
(Via @NBCSCeltics )
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) April 21, 2024
Brian Scalabrine believes this was a “code red” issued by Erik Spoelstra to send a message to the #Celtics. The #Heat called a timeout 30-seconds prior to Caleb Martin running into Jayson Tatum. pic.twitter.com/eYzLapV3lR
— The Celtics Files (@CelticsFiles) April 21, 2024
It’s a tall implication by Scalabrine, especially given the context of the timeout.
In case anyone is wondering why Erik Spoelstra called time-out with 1:30 left, the NBA's boxscore mentions that he challenged the foul on Delon Wright. You need to call time to challenge.
It's funny how this isn't mentioned in all the Code Red talk. pic.twitter.com/MhUXUNEsC4
— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) April 21, 2024
Tatum fortunately didn’t appear to be too banged up, but the play certainly pumped some drama into the final moments of the game.
It was a day to forget for the Heat, as they looked outclassed at times by the Celtics. Miami, down key players like Jimmy Butler and Terry Rozier, found itself in an early hole and ended up losing by 20.
The Celtics and their star-studded lineup certainly rose to the occasion, with four of their five starters scoring at least 17 points in a balanced attack. Miami’s Bam Adebayo did end up leading all scorers with 24 points, but it wasn’t enough to give the Heat a real shot at stealing a win on the road.
The Heat now find themselves in a precarious spot where they’ll need to win Game 2 in Boston in order to avoid falling into an 0-2 hole. At some point during the series, Miami will need to win at least one road game in order to have a chance at upsetting Boston.
The series will resume on Wednesday, and it’ll be interesting to see if there’s any bad blood between the squads in that one. That doesn’t seem too likely, however, based on Tatum’s comments after Sunday’s game.
“Just understanding it’s playoff basketball,” he said. “It’s a physical game playing against a physical team. (Stuff is) going to happen. It’s probably not the last time I’m going to get hit like that, or fouled in this series. I wasn’t hurt to get hit like that. Just get up. And I knew we were in the bonus. Just go down there and knock the free throws down.”
The Celtics are trying to get back to the NBA Finals after reaching that stage in 2022, and the Heat are trying to do so after getting there in 2023. Unfortunately for Miami, Boston is seemingly in a better position to accomplish that goal this season based on the way things currently stand.
