Marcus Smart blasted Joel Embiid after their altercation during the game, claiming he "could have cracked Embiid's head open".

Credit: USA TODAY Sports-Scanpix
Credit USA TODAY Sports-Scanpix

After the Boston Celtics win against the Philadelphia 76ersMarcus Smart reacted to his altercation with Joel Embiid.

Player of the Game
Jayson  Tatum
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."

Comments:
We want to hear from you. Be the first to comment!
Thank you for reporting a comment

Add comment

We have the right to remove comments which are offensive, contains abusive language, or violates other rules of the website
Boston Celtics
Philadelphia 76ers
56%
46/82
Field goals
50%
40/80
47
Rebounds
39
24
Assists
16
8
Steals
8
72%
34/47
2-pointers
59%
27/46
34%
12/35
3-pointers
38%
13/34

Best players

Jaylen  Brown
35 PTS
14/24 FG
3/3 FT
James  Harden
35 PTS
9/14 FG
12/12 FT
Jayson  Tatum
12 REB
12 DREB
0 OREB
Joel  Embiid
15 REB
14 DREB
1 OREB
Marcus  Smart
7 As
1 TO
36 MIN
James  Harden
7 As
3 TO
37 MIN
Jayson  Tatum
40 EFF
85% 2P%
29% 3P%
James  Harden
39 EFF
80% 2P%
56% 3P%