Al Horford Addresses Heated Reaction To Celtics-Heat Incident

Tempers flared in the final minutes of Monday night’s NBA playoff game between the Celtics and the Heat.

Jayson Tatum appeared to sustain an ankle injury when he landed on the right foot of Bam Adebayo, who contested a shot the Boston star took after play was stopped. Adebayo’s actions drew the ire of Al Horford, who stormed over to the scene and bumped the Miami star before helping Tatum up and getting into it with the referees.

Horford was issued a technical foul for his role in the incident, while Adebayo was tabbed with a Flagrant 1 foul. After Boston’s 102-88 win, Horford explained why he lost his cool.

“I know we get to playing around and trying to contest shots after fouls and things like that. There’s levels to contest,” Horford told reporters, per an NBC Sports Boston video. “If a guy is shooting and the play is over with, just kind of let him be. I know he’s trying to compete over there, but I was just mad. I don’t want to see any of my guys get hurt or anything like that. Thankfully, JT’s fine. But it could have been bad.”

Tatum mostly brushed off the incident after the game. The five-time All-Star didn’t seem very upset with Adebayo but rather was annoyed by tweaking the same ankle he injured in past seasons.

Boston’s franchise cornerstone will be able to take pressure off the ankle Tuesday before the Celtics try to finish off the Heat and advance to Round 2 on Wednesday.