Celtics
“I saw a guy fall and I supported him 10 times out of 10.”
Officials had to separate Jaylen Brown (left) of the Celtics and Caleb Martin of the Heat after Martin fouled Jayson Tatum (not pictured) in the fourth quarter.
Jayson Tatum’s elimination in Game 1 was just one bump in the Celtics’ road to victory.
Are things really different for the Celtics this year? How they respond to the Heat in Game 2 will be telling.
Jaylen Brown was the first player to face Caleb Martin after Martin knocked Jayson Tatum to the ground with a hard foul in the final minute of the Celtics’ Game 1 win over the Heat on Sunday.
Brown and Kristaps Porzingis didn’t hesitate to get in Martin’s face. Knowing the Heat’s reputation for questionable tactics during games, Brown said he wanted to make sure nothing shady happened.
“I just told him to watch that, you know, to make sure those are basketball games going on there,” Brown said.
“We know they like to play hard and be physical, but there’s a limit, so just make sure you don’t compromise the integrity of the game,” Brown added. “I just told him to look at it, at that point you can’t make out all the components from what I saw, but that’s all I did, it’s just let him know.”
Fortunately for the Celtics, Tatum was not injured during the game. Tatum said he felt good after the game, and coach Joe Mazzulla said Tatum participated in practice as usual on Tuesday .
Brown said he didn’t think it was a dirty play, but he couldn’t be sure right now, so he decided to watch out for Tatum anyway.
“I saw a guy fall and I was able to hold him up 10 out of 10 times,” Brown said. “You couldn’t tell what was happening in the heat of the moment, but it seemed like something a little more, so I said something. It seemed like it was just basketball, it wasn’t intentional so we just keep moving forward. JT gets up, goes to the other side and makes two free throws.
Brown said the Celtics are embracing physicality and quick-thinking more than they ever did during his time on the team.
“That’s what it’s all about, you know what I mean?” » said Brown. “You have to entertain the shenanigans but at the same time, we’re not looking for anything more in this series. Just be professional. We do our jobs and make sure we support each other.
There wasn’t much to say with Tatum after the play, Brown said. This kind of physicality is expected from Miami. The Celtics know him well, having faced Miami in the playoffs four of the last five years. Now it’s a question of how they handle this.
“Every match is a fight. You have to win the match and win the fight,” Brown said. “Both of those things are important and we embrace them both, being the smarter team but also being the team that gets the job done on the pitch and being able to set the tone physically and not back down.”
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