Incident between Robinson, Brown adds to heated Heat-Celtics history
For those wondering, the rivalry between the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics is alive and well.
That shouldn’t be a surprise, considering they have faced off in the Eastern Conference finals in three of the past four seasons. The core of both teams has remained relatively intact throughout that stretch.
But in case a reminder was needed, the clubs provided one Sunday in the 53rd game of the season for both teams when the Celtics defeated the short-handed Heat 110106 at Kaseya Center.
“It was just competitive basketball being played out there,” Celtics star Jayson Tatum said.
Despite starting the game without star Jimmy Butler because of a death in his family and then losing guards Josh Richardson and Terry Rozier to injuries, the Heat remained within striking distance to make it a onepossession game in the final minutes against the team with the NBA’s best record. But after the Heat pulled within two points with 1:49 to play, the Celtics scored the next four points to lead by six with 14.6 seconds remaining and seal the win.
“I thought our group showed a tremendous amount of grit in that second half,” coach Erik Spoelstra said ahead of back-to-back road games against Milwaukee on Tuesday and Philadelphia on Wednesday. “There were a lot of things that weren’t necessarily going our way, including the injuries and then down
10. To really claw and fight back and get this game on the ropes, I think it was a credit to how hard our guys were playing.”
The historic animosity between the teams showed itself with eight minutes left in the fourth quarter.
Forward Duncan Robinson, on defense, and Celtics forwards Jaylen Brown were fighting for position near the threepoint line when Brown attempted to catch an entry pass from guard Derrick White.
Robinson was called for a foul after he and Brown, worked to gain position on a post-up, got tangled up.
Once the foul was called, Brown forcefully pulled his arm through Robinson’s arm in an apparent attempt to separate himself from Robinson. But, in the process, Brown yanked Robinson’s arm and tossed him into the courtside seats.
Brown was called for a
Flagrant 1 foul “for the action to the arm of Robinson after the whistle.”
Robinson suffered a left shoulder/elbow sprain and is questionable for Tuesday’s game.
“I just thought it was a dirty play, to be honest with you,” Robinson said. “That’s how people miss entire seasons . ... Those types of plays, you’ve seen them before throughout the history of the NBA. Guys suffer really bad injuries from instances exactly like that. So I just thought it was dangerous, unnecessary and excessive.”
Brown said he saw no issue with what he did, instead blaming Robinson.
“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,” said Brown, who, like Robinson is represented by agent
Jason Glushon. “They called a foul, but he was still trying to hang on. So I was trying to get my arm free.”
Robinson and Brown then exchanged words near the free-throw line before Robinson shot two free throws for the flagrant foul. The two needed to be separated by teammates and the officials.
Boston coach Joe Mazzulla called the verbal altercation “tremendous,” saying that the Celtics “need to have a certain level of friction in moments.”
“Miami is known for being physical,” Brown continued. “Miami is known for getting away with a lot of that stuff, trying to muck up the game. 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 and trying to draw whatever he was trying to do. But I bet he won’t do it again.”
Heat center Bam Adebayo, who is friends with Brown and Tatum, said after the game that he stood by his teammate.
“I feel like I agree with Duncan,” Adebayo said. “He felt like it was a dirty play. I’m not going against my teammate. That’s what it is. I stand behind my teammates 100 percent.”
What’s that balance like for Adebayo, who knows Brown off the court but has been Robinson’s teammate since 2018?
“Listen, if you’re in a Miami Heat jersey and
I’m on your team, I don’t give a [expletive] what’s happening,” a passionate Adebayo said. “If action happens, we’re with the action. No questions asked, there’s no second guessing, I’m with it.
“Obviously, some dudes are my homies on the other team. But in between them lines, they don’t care about us and we don’t care about you. I don’t talk to you before the game, I don’t look at you. After that buzzer goes off and we can’t do anything else that affects the game, it might be a what’s up.
“But other than that, nah, that rivalry still stands. They remember what we did to them in Game 7 on their home court. So for us, man, it’s a dog-eat-dog world. I’m riding with my team.”
Adebayo was referring to the Heat’s Game 7 win at Boston in last season’s East finals. With that victory, the Heat became the just the second No. 8 seed in league history to reach the NBA Finals.
Boston
New York Philadelphia Brooklyn Toronto Southeast
Orlando Miami Atlanta Charlotte Washington Central
Cleveland Milwaukee Indiana Chicago Detroit
Southwest
New Orleans Dallas Houston Memphis San Antonio Northwest
Minnesota Oklahoma City Denver
Utah
Portland Pacific
L.A. Clippers Phoenix Sacramento L.A. Lakers Golden State
36 36 36 26 15 W
16 17 17 27 37
L
.692 .679 .679 .491 .288
Pct
TUESDAY
Miami at Milwaukee, 8
Boston at Brooklyn, 7:30
Oklahoma City at Orlando, 7:30 Minnesota at Portland, 10 Sacramento at Phoenix, 10
Detroit at L.A. Lakers, 10:30
MONDAY
Indiana at Charlotte
Philadelphia at Cleveland
Chicago at Atlanta
San Antonio at Toronto
New York at Houston
New Orleans at Memphis
Denver at Milwaukee
Washington at Dallas
Golden State at Utah
Minnesota at L.A. Clippers
SUNDAY
Boston 110, Miami 106
Oklahoma City 127, Sacramento 113
But Sunday’s win gave the Celtics a 3-0 sweep of the regular-season series, Boston’s first such sweep of Miami since the 201617 campaign. And while the Heat is in play-in tournament territory for the second straight season in eighth place in the East at 28-25, the Celtics are first in the conference at 41-12.
Anthony Chiang: 305-376-4991, @Anthony_Chiang
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