Marcus Smart blasted Joel Embiid after their altercation during the game, claiming he "could have cracked Embiid's head open".
After the Boston Celtics win against the Philadelphia 76ers, Marcus Smart reacted to his altercation with Joel Embiid.
Player of the Game | |
EFF
40
|
|
Jayson Tatum | |
Points | 35 |
Accuracy | 13-20 |
Rebounds | 12 |
Assists | 4 |
The reigning defensive player of the year briefly explained what happened on the court.
"Went for a rebound. Basketball play," Smart said. "Went for the steal. Basketball play. Referee blows his whistle, calls a foul. I stop playing, my arm's still stuck in there, and he tries to break it. And then I'm the only one who gets a tech. Everybody saw it."
Smart and Jaylen Brown exchanged words with Embiid after the sequence and had to be separated by teammates and officials.
After a video review, the call on the floor stood of a personal foul on Smart and a technical foul.
"I don't have to keep talking about it," Smart said. "If I did that, I'm probably ejected, suspended three games, four games, fined. But the fact that I was the only one that got, I guess, something out of that is kind of beyond me. Especially defending DPOY, and that's how he gets treated. It's tough."
Even though Smart was whistled for a technical foul in the exchange, he was happy not to escalate the issue as he had in past seasons.
"Like I said, it's maturity," Smart said. "I could have cracked his head open, but I didn't. And that's the maturity we have. So we move on from it. It is what it is. And we control what we can control."