Brian Scalabrine accuses Miami Heat of intentionally hurting Jayson Tatum / News - Basketnews.com

Former Boston Celtics player Brian Scalabrine believes the Miami Heat intentionally tried to injure Jayson Tatum late in Game 1.

Credit: AP/Scanpix Credit AP/Scanpix

The Boston Celtics survived a physical tussle against the Miami Heat in Game 1 of their first round series in the NBA playoffs.

Jayson Tatum

MIN:35.82PTS:26.8 (56.49%)REB:8.15As:4.99ST:1.03BL:0.57TO:2.55GM:75ProfileNBA2023/2024

The Celtics were led by Jayson Tatum, who finished with a triple-double of 23 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists.

Late in the game, though, with the Celtics comfortably up by 16 points, Tatum suffered a hard fall to the floor after he collided with Caleb Martin during a rebound play. Fortunately, Tatum immediately got right back after the fall as the Celtics took Game 1.

Former Celtics player and now analyst Brian Scalabrine, though, thought the incident was a "dirty play."

"Erik Spoelstra called a timeout with a minute and 30 [remaining] down by 16. Thirty seconds later, that play happens... I don't know, man. That looks shady to me," Scalabrine said.

Jayson TatumCredit USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect-Scanpix

"And you go at the best player? I didn't like that. ... To me, it's a dirty play. I think Martin should get suspended for that. That's a dirty play. You can't do that. Like, 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 the guy goes up and you just ran into him? That ain't basketball."

Despite Scalabrine's remarks, Tatum just shrugged off the hit, saying it was just "playoff basketball."

"It's a physical game against a physical team. S---'s gonna happen. It's probably not the last time I'm going to get hit like that in this series," said Tatum.

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