Ex-Celtic Calls Out Erik Spoelstra, Caleb Martin For ‘Dirty Play’

Heat forward Caleb Martin drew the ire of many inside TD Garden on Sunday afternoon, including former Boston Celtics forward Brian Scalabrine.

With the Celtics in full control and on their way to a 114-94 win in Game 1 of the opening round of the NBA playoffs, Martin collided hard with Jayson Tatum while going for an offensive rebound with a minute left in the game. The contact sent the Celtics star crashing to the floor, but Tatum got up quickly after the scary fall and avoided injury. Jaylen Brown confronted Martin immediately and the two had to be separated.

The actions of Martin certainly upset Scalabrine, who serves as an analyst for NBC Sports Boston and was on the last Celtics team to capture an NBA title. But Scalabrine didn’t just have Martin in his crosshairs.

Scalabrine also called out Erik Spoelstra and believed the Heat coach had a hand in what happened on the court.

“I’m not trying to start nothing here, but Erik Spoelstra calls a timeout with 1:30 down by 16. Thirty seconds later that, that play happens. Thirty seconds later,” Scalabrine said, per NBC Sports Boston. “Why is he calling a timeout at 1:30? And why is that play happening 30 seconds later? That looked shady to me.”

Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla and Tatum both downplayed the incident following the win. Tatum, who finished with a triple-double of 23 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, saw the play just as “playoff basketball.”

But even if that was the case, Scalabrine thought Martin crossed a line and should face discipline from the league office.

“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,” Scalabrine said. “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 a guy goes up and you just ram into him. That ain’t basketball.”