BOSTON -- It took 47 minutes of action, but the bad blood between the Celtics and Miami Heat returned Sunday at TD Garden.
With just under one minute to play in Boston's 114-94 win over the Heat in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series, Miami's Caleb Martin collided with Jayson Tatum while Tatum was in the air attempting to grab a rebound.
Tatum hit the floor hard, sending an audible gasp through the Garden crowd. Tatum got up quickly, but Celtics wing Jaylen Brown took exception to Martin trying to help Tatum up, smacking away the Heat forward's hand.
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That led to players from both teams exchanging pleasantries.
Both Brown and Martin were whistled for technical fouls as a result of the dust-up. Martin downplayed the incident after the game, even suggesting he was pushed in Tatum's direction before colliding with him.
"I just heard him hit the floor," Martin said of Tatum. "Obviously I knew I hit him pretty hard, but momentum was carrying me. I think I got pushed into that direction. But hard foul, tried to pick him up, that's just what it is."
Tatum didn't seem particularly rattled by Martin's hard foul, insisting that he was "fine" after the game and chalking the incident up to the rigors of "playoff basketball."
"Just understanding it's playoff basketball," Tatum told reporters. "A physical game, playing against a physical team, s--t's gonna happen. It's not the last time I'm probably going to get hit like that or fouled in this series. I wasn't hurt.
"You get hit like that, you just get up. And I knew we were in the bonus, so go down there and knock my free throws down."
Tatum avoiding injury obviously is a relief for the C's and their fans, as the 26-year-old was excellent in this game: He racked up 23 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists to record his first career playoff triple-double.
Game 2 is set for Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET at TD Garden, with NBC Sports Boston's Mike Gorman and Brian Scalabrine on the call for the broadcast.
