Martin calls Tatum incident ‘a hard foul’; Herro struggles with his shot in opener
BOSTON
With the Heat and Celtics facing off in the playoffs for the third straight season and fourth time in the past five years, the rivalry keeps getting more intense.
Even as the top-seeded Celtics routed the eighthseeded Heat 114-94 on Sunday in the opener of the first-round series, there was a heated moment with 59.4 seconds to play and the Celtics ahead by 16.
After a missed shot from Heat center Bam Adebayo, forward Caleb Martin crashed the offensive glass. He collided with Jayson Tatum at full speed and the Celtics’ forward fell hard on the court.
Martin immediately attempted to help Tatum up but was shoved aside by Celtics forward Jaylen Brown. Those on the court from both teams converged on Martin and Brown, but the situation quickly de-escalated.
Martin and Brown received technical fouls.
“Just a hard foul,” Martin said Sunday. “I tried to go help him up. I just heard him hit the floor. Obviously, I know I hit him pretty hard.
“But momentum was carrying me, and I think I got pushed into that direction.”
While Brown defended his teammate, Tatum quickly picked himself up and walked away to prepare for his two free throws.
“It’s a physical game, playing against a physical team, [expletive] is going to happen,” Tatum said. “It’s probably not the last time I’m going to get hit like that, or fouled in this series. I wasn’t hurt. You get hit like that, you just get up. And I knew we were in the [free throw] bonus, so go down there and knock the free throws down.”
On the Celtics’ next possession, Martin committed a harmless foul on Tatum and the two slapped hands respectfully after the whistle.
But Celtics television analyst and former NBA big man Brian Scalabrine added fuel to the fire, saying on the Celtics’ postgame show Sunday: “I’m not trying to start nothing here, but Erik Spoelstra called a timeout with 1:30 [left], down by 16. Thirty seconds later that play happens. Thirty seconds later? Why is he calling a timeout at 1:30 down 16? Why is that play happening 30 seconds later.”
The late-game timeout Scalabrine questioned was mandatory because Spoelstra challenged a foul call on Heat guard Delon Wright.
“To me, it’s a dirty play,” Scalabrine continued. “I think Martin should get suspended for that. That’s a dirty play. You can’t do that.
“Just think about that, the NBA is about the star players. The idea of winning a championship is your star players have to stay healthy, and a guy goes up and you just ram into him? That ain’t basketball.”
THIS AND THAT
Game 1 was a struggle for Heat guard Tyler Herro, who had 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting from the field (3 of 9 on threes). Celtics guard Jrue Holiday spent much of the game defending Herro.
According to NBA tracking stats, Herro scored just three points on 1-of-5 shooting from the field during the 30 possessions that Holiday was his primary defender.
“Just applying pressure and making things difficult and not really allowing me to get comfortable really from the beginning,” Herro said of the Celtics’ defense. “They did a great job with that. It’s one game, just leave it behind and keep it moving.” Wright was one of the few bright spots for the Heat. He had 17 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field (5 of 5 on threes), three assists and two steals in 26 minutes off the bench. He got hot in the fourth quarter, scoring 15 points with all five of his threes.
Wright’s five made threes matched his career high since breaking into the league in 2015.
“That was pretty crazy,” Wright said of making all five of his threes in Sunday’s fourth quarter. “I don’t think I’ve ever hit that many in a row. But I just have to take the open shot that they give me.”
The Celtics’ addition of 7-foot-2 center Kristaps Porzingis continues to be a game-changer against the Heat.
With Porzingis finishing Game 1 with 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field (4 of 8 on threes), four rebounds and two blocks, he has averaged 19.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in four games against the Heat this season. He has made 11 of 22 three-point attempts in those games.
“Last year was a lot easier because they didn’t have Porzingis,” Heat second-year forward Nikola Jovic said. “I think our zone really made a lot of problems for them. I think it can make a lot of problems this year, too. But with Porzingis in the lineup, he stretches the floor and he can just shoot it over almost anyone. It’s just really hard to guard him.”
The Celtics are 4-0 against the Heat this season.