When Jayson Tatum fell hard to the court during Sunday’s Game 1 victory against the Heat, Celtics supporters held their collective breath.
Tatum was competing for a rebound when he collided with Caleb Martin, sending the Celtics star flying through the air and landing on his back.
Celtics commentator Brian Scalabrine alluded to the possibility that Heat coach Erik Spoelstra had called a “code red” in the previous timeout, meaning that Tatum was being purposefully injured.
“I’m not trying to start nothing here, but Erik Spoelstra calls a timeout with 1:30, down by 16…and 30 seconds later, that play happens,” remarked Scalabrine. “Why is that play happening 30 seconds after he calls a timeout at 1:30? I thought that looked sketchy.”
Scalabrine maintained his “code red” charge the following morning.
Scalabrine’s outrageous notion generated a lot of media attention. Following Miami’s practice on Tuesday, Martin and Spoelstra addressed the allegations.
Spoelstra dismissed the charge as “not worth addressing” and went on to praise Miami and Boston for their superior basketball skills in the playoffs in recent years.
Martin offered an intriguing perspective, stating that no one would have accused Tatum of a dirty play if the roles had been reversed and he had been the one to fall.
Martin offered an intriguing perspective, stating that no one would have accused Tatum of a dirty play if the roles had been reversed and he had been the one to fall.
In the NBA Playoffs, the Celtics and Heat are playing one other for the third time straight. The Heat paid the Celtics a favor last year, when they defeated them 4-3 in 2022 to advance to the NBA Finals.
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