The Celtics didn’t pick up a road win Saturday night without a little drama.
Boston was forced to play the final one minute and 25 seconds of its game against Atlanta without Marcus Smart. The reigning Defensive Player of the Year was ejected following a spat with Trae Young, which saw Smart grab onto the Hawks guard and pull him to the ground.
The Celtics were nursing an eight-point lead at the time of Smart’s ejection, but they overcame the obstacle and secured a 134-125 win at State Farm Arena. Jayson Tatum was pleased to see the C’s maintain their focus after an unfortunate event in crunch time.
“We were just aware of the moment. Whatever happened, happened,” Tatum told reporters, per MassLive. “The mentality was to finish the game and we did. We got key spots, Al (Horford) got a big block which led to a transition bucket and we went from there. The carryover of moving onto the next play, for us to do that in the time of the game with us being on the road was big for us.”
It remains to be seen if Smart will receive any further discipline from the NBA for his dustup with Young. The Celtics’ road trip continues Monday when they visit the Houston Rockets.
