Home Sport Brian Scalabrine and Joe Mazzulla respond to Caleb Martin’s ‘dirty’ foul on Jayson Tatum

Brian Scalabrine and Joe Mazzulla respond to Caleb Martin’s ‘dirty’ foul on Jayson Tatum

Sport — 04/22/2024

Based on Jayson Tatum’s feelings after the game, the Celtics’ decisive victory over the Heat in Game 1 of their first-round series might have been a hollow victory. After Miami Heat player Caleb Martin undercut him in the final minute of the fourth quarter, Tatum struck the parquet floor hard as the star of the Celtics leaped up to grab a rebound. After striking the deck, Tatum swiftly stood back up, but Jaylen Brown took instant offense at Martin’s foul, squabbling with the Heat forward and igniting a small altercation. 

Miami Heat forward Caleb Martin, behind center, fouls Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, front center, in front of Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) in the second half of Game 1 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series, Sunday, April 21, 2024, in Boston.

After his heavy fall, Tatum said after the game that he felt “fine” and wasn’t wоunded.

After Boston’s final 114-91 victory on Sunday, Joe Mazzulla, the coach of the Celtics, responded in a way that was predictable given Martin’s foul and the ensuing commotion on the court. 

Regarding the altercation, Mazzulla remarked, “I was just thinking, I was waiting to see what (Brown) was going to do.” “The whole thing excited me a little bit. I therefore had fun viewing it.

May be an image of 3 people, people playing basketball, basketball jersey, crowd and text that says ""I WAS KIND OF EXCITED ABOUT THE WHOLE SITUATION." JOE MAZZULLA ON THE LATE GAME ALTERCATION PRINT CELTICS IG DU 0 MARTIN 16 H/T NOA DALZELL CLUTCHPOINTS"

Even though Joe Mazzulla transitioned from player to coach, it’s obvious that his drive to succeed hasn’t diminished. Speaking earlier in the season, Mazzulla acknowledged that during a timeout he was instructed to cease attempting to block shots from opposition players. 

Mazzulla was more interested in Brown’s reaction to Martin’s foul, but Brian Scalabrine, a former forward for the Celtics and current commentator for NBC Sports Boston, wasn’t holding back when he discussed Martin’s conduct and Heat coach Erik Spoelstra’s tactics in those crucial minutes of a blowout victory.

“With 1:30 remaining and down by 16, Erik Spoelstra called a timeout. I’m not trying to start anything here,” Scalabrine remarked. “That play takes place thirty seconds later. After thirty seconds. Why is he using 1:30 to call a timeout? Thirty seconds later, why is that play, that play, happening? I thought that looked sketchy.

It’s a nasty play in my opinion, he continued. “Anyone who looks at that, in my opinion, should suspend Martin for it.” That play is dishonest. That is not possible for you to accomplish. Just consider that. The star players are the focus of the NBA. Maintaining the health of your best players is essential to winning an NBA title. And you just run into a person who’s standing there? It’s not basketball, that.

This first-round series could pick up steam with Martin’s late foul and the ensuing scrum, which takes place on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at TD Garden.