Marcus Smart and Trae Young are no strangers to getting into altercations with one another. The latest example of this came on Saturday night during the Boston Celtics’ 134-125 win over the Hawks in Atlanta, as Smart got ejected late in the fourth quarter after he accosted Young for kicking him below the belt on a layup attempt.
Boston had an eight point lead with just under 90 seconds remaining when Young drove to the rim and threw up a floater. The officials said there was some contact to send Young to the line for an and-one, but while Young was in the air, he kicked out his right leg and appeared to make contact with Smart’s groin. Unsurprisingly, Smart did not appreciate this, so he went right up to Young and wrapped him up.
Smart got right in Young’s face and began talking to him, which Young and John Collins didn’t like. Then, Smart went to ground and took Young with him, which escalated things a bit and led to teammates, coaches, and the officials intervening to break them up.
Technicals were handed out to both Young and Smart, while Smart was ejected from the game. Fortunately for Boston, Smart’s absence did not hurt their efforts to pick up a win.
