Celtics news: Marcus Smart reveals what happened in late-night meeting after locker room explosion

Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart opened up about the late-night meeting the team leaders had after their post-Game 2 blowup in the locker room.

Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart has finally opened up about that infamous locker room explosion following their Game 2 defeat to the Miami Heat. Smart was at the center of the verbal altercation, with the feisty guard reportedly involved in a heated exchange with Jaylen Brown, among others.

Speaking to Sam Amick of The Athletic, Smart shared his side of the story, as he went into detail as to how they were all able to quickly settle their differences in a crucial meeting of Celtics leaders that same evening:

“Yeah, you know we just got together and made sure that we were on the same page. We told each other that we love each other,” Smart said.

“It was me, Jaylen, Jayson [Tatum], Kemba [Walker], and (coach) Brad Stevens. You know, we just got together and made sure that what happened in the locker room was really in the locker room. It’s unfortunate that it got out, but it happened. Like I said, we’re a family. Families fight. I don’t expect anything less.”

Smart went on to say that he was not surprised about his Celtics teammates not taking to well to his postgame tirade, and as a matter of fact, he actually appreciates how they spoke out:

“I expect that if a guy feels some way, then say it,” he said. “I’d rather you say it than hold it in and let it come out too late. Like I said, it was electrifying for us to have it. It was something that probably we should have had a long time ago, but because we kind of just skated through we didn’t have to. And we knew eventually it was going to come up to bite us with the way we’d been playing, so it was something that needed to happen. Like I said, I love this group of guys. We all love each other. We all know that when any of us get emotional, there’s no malice and no bad intentions behind it. I think that’s kind of where and how we were all able to have the higher (outcome) because we all knew that it was coming from a great place.”

Kemba Walker reportedly played a key role in patching things up between Smart and Brown, with Walker arranging a late-night phone conversation between the two teammates. This was where the pair finally buried the hatchet.

How Smart is able to talk so openly about it now speaks volumes of the type of chemistry and loyalty this team has to each other. As it seems, this is only something that will make the Celtics better as a unit — a rite of passage, if you may.

It showed on the basketball court for them, with Boston taking Game 3 to cut the series deficit to 2-1. Game 4 is scheduled for Wednesday, with the Celtics hoping to get another one back to tie the series against a very formidable Heat side.