Brian Scalabrine, a former Boston Celtics star and current analyst, has alleged that Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra called a ‘code red’ that resulted in a late foul on Celtics star Jayson Tatum. The incident occurred in the fourth quarter of the Celtics’ 114-94 victory over the Heat, with the Celtics leading by 16 points with 1:30 remaining. Scalabrine alleges that Spoelstra called a timeout and then instructed his team to foul Tatum hard, which Martin did.
Scalabrine made the accusation on the NBC Boston postgame show, saying, ‘I’m not trying to start nothing here, but Erik Spoelstra called a timeout with 1:30 down by 16, 30 seconds later that play happens. 30 seconds later? Why have you called a timeout at 1:30 down 16? Why is that play happening 30 seconds later. That looked shady to me. A code red.’
Those words spread quickly throughout the NBA media scene. And Scalabrine continued to criticize Spoelstra on his daily show with Frank Isola on SiriusXM NBA Radio. That led to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press, who covers the Heat, taking to X – the site formerly known as Twitter – to respond.
‘Scalabrine, on Sirius NBA Radio, repeats his claim this morning that Caleb Martin was dirty and Erik Spoelstra ordered the team to not lay down in the time-out. Even made the ‘Code Red’ allegation again. He also goes after ‘Miami media’ for ignoring this. Yawn.’, Reynolds wrote.
Isola responded to those comments, posting, ‘It was a said as a compliment, Tim. You don’t need to be the team’s pro bono defense attorney every day.’
The contest between the Celtics and Heat needs these extras if we’re being honest. That looked shady to me. A code red. The Celtics are expected to go on and claim victory in the best of seven series. Tatum’s triple-double helped the top seeds to a comfortable opening victory against last season’s losing finalists. Without injured star Butler, the Heat found the Celtics far too strong for them. Tatum warned however, ‘We can’t relax. They’re not going to give up, they’re not going to lay down.’
The second game in the best of seven series takes place on Wednesday night. Game three will be on Saturday, when the action switches to Miami.
