The Boston Celtics had a narrow win over the Atlanta Hawks today, but the biggest talking point of the game didn't have anything to do with the basketball going in as Marcus Smart got into an altercation for trying to step over Trae Young.
Young was asked about his take on the entire debacle that caused two technical fouls to be given. According to Sarah K. Spencer of the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the Hawks guard didn't have an exact idea of what happened throughout the game and only heard about what Smart did from his teammates.
Trae Young on this play: "I don't know. I haven't watched the video. Everybody in the locker room was telling me different things. I ain't trying to really get into that. People can watch and see and judge what happened." https://t.co/VkTky8fYeg
— Sarah K. Spencer (@sarah_k_spence) January 4, 2020
Head coach Lloyd Pierce also avoided making any controversial statements that would invite the ire of the league. He simply said that he didn't see what happened during the sequence of events that led to Smart and Alex Len getting slapped with the technicals.
Lloyd Pierce said he didn't see the incident at the end with Marcus Smart. Said it was explained to him as to why the technicals were given and called it a "tough break."
— Brad Rowland (@BTRowland) January 4, 2020
Pierce then gave a statement of what the officials saw that forced their hands for the T sign.
Pierce: “I was explained that Marcus walked over Trae and that was the first tech. Alex pushed Marcus and that was the second technical.” https://t.co/TQWrNitkdh
— Brad Rowland (@BTRowland) January 4, 2020
It's definitely correct that both Smart and Len were the main personalities involved in the issue. However, fans who got to see the replay multiple times would argue that Smart was actually the main perpetrator in this situation. He was obviously trying to step over Trae Young when he was on the ground a la Allen Iverson. The video also showed Smart making the first contact on Len as the big man was getting all up on the Celtics guard's face in defense of Young.
Each set of fans would have different takes on what happened. However, everyone could agree that this wasn't a good way to end a competitive game of basketball.
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