BRAD Stevens met with Jayson Tatum, Kemba Walker and other players to ease tensions after the Boston Celtics’ emotional loss to the Miami Heat, according to reports.
The fifth-seeded Heat moved two games ahead of East No. 3 Celtics in the conference finals and emotions ran high, and Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown reportedly had to be separated as a shouting match broke out.
Boston wasted a big lead, getting overpowered in the third period on Thursday (Friday, Manila time).
Stevens got the team leaders together, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, in the hotel late to talk about the issues — aside from the yelling, objects were reportedly thrown around inside the heated locker room.
Walker had downplayed the incident in a post-match interview, saying: "It was nothing … It was nothing."
Game Three is on Saturday (Sunday, Manila time).
The struggling Celtics hope to get a lift from Gordon Hayward, who has been out for a month but has been listed questionable for Game Three.
Hayward suffered a severe right ankle sprain in Boston's Game One win over Philadelphia in their first-round playoff series.
Spin fans unite at the Spin Viber Community! Join the growing community now and complete the experience by subscribing to the Spin Chatbot.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
