Kemba Walker downplayed talk about the Boston Celtics having a heated locker room after their Game 2 loss to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals on Thursday.
The Celtics blew a 13-point halftime lead and lost 106-101. They were up by five points late and were unable to finish.
After the game, multiple reporters said Marcus Smart was yelling in the locker room and that objects were thrown.
Walker, who had a team-high 23 points, said the postgame issues were “nothing.”
Celtics guard Kemba Walker on the emotions in the locker room afterwards: "It was nothing. It was nothing."
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) September 18, 2020
Celtics head coach Brad Stevens and forward Jayson Tatum both chalked things up to natural reactions to a tough loss.
Brad Stevens: “Guys were emotional after a hard game, hard loss.”
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) September 18, 2020
Celtics' Jayson Tatum on the emotional locker room: "We're frustrated. But that's team sports. You're not supposed to be happy being down 0-2." Tatum added "it's not anything out of the ordinary" and guys were just talking about the game.
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) September 18, 2020
That type of reaction is to be expected, but there has to be concern about bad feelings lingering from Smart’s callout.
Boston is now in a 0-2 hole to the Heat in the series. Game 3 will be on Saturday, so there will not be much time for the Celtics to turn things around. They will have to do so against a hot Heat team that has gone 10-1 in the playoffs this year. Falling behind 0-3 in the series would put them in a spot they might not be able to overcome.
