Boston Celtics analyst Brian Scalabrine has clarified his controversial remarks about Heat coach Erik Spoelstra calling a timeout before a hard foul on Jayson Tatum in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Scalabrine initially said on the NBC Sports Boston postgame show that Spoelstra’s timeout was a ‘shady’ way to order a ‘code red’ on Tatum. However, he later joined the Miami-based ‘Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz’ to explain himself.
While Scalabrine did not completely back down from accusing Spoelstra of putting a hit out on Tatum, he said he believes Spoelstra told the Heat to ‘send a message’ since they were getting blown out.
‘Do you think that during that timeout, or during any timeout by the way, that Erik Spoelstra says, ‘Come on, guys. We’re down by 32. We’re just gonna lay down and get punked? We’re not gonna send a message?’” Scalabrine asked.
‘I’m not saying he said go run over to Tatum and hurt him. I’m saying, ‘Come on, guys, we’re gonna send a message to these guys. We’re in a long series right here. This is what we’re gonna do.'”
Scalabrine said anyone who does not think Spoelstra told the Heat to ‘send a message’ does not really buy into Miami’s self-proclaimed identity of being the toughest and grittiest team in the NBA.
There is a big difference between a coach telling his team to be aggressive and not go down without a fight versus instructing a player to injure an opponent. Scalabrine was basically trying to say the former was all he meant, but it was clear he initially accused Spoelstra of more.
