Celtics Coach And Player Have Heated Exchange During 3rd Quarter Meltdown

The Boston Celtics came out of the locker room for the 2nd half of their Conference Finals Game 1 meeting with the Miami Heat down by only eight points, 62-54. But then the 3rd quarter happened. The Heat blew the game open by outscoring the Celtics 39-14 in the third. 

And while the meltdown was occurring, tempers were apparently flaring on the Celtics bench, as head coach Ime Udoka and forward Grant Williams had a heated exchange. 

⁦@celtics⁩ Grant Williams and Head Coach Ime Udoka having some words pic.twitter.com/oCfM8ja4y8

— Doc Holliday (@The_DocHolliday) May 18, 2022

Grant to Udoka: “Move on! Move. On. I’m good. I’m good. Move on!” https://t.co/elQfRDeBmC

— Randy Scott (@RandyScottESPN) May 18, 2022

While Udoka was letting Williams have it, the 6'6" forward shouted back, “Move on! Move. On. I’m good. I’m good. Move on!”

“[We] got out-toughed, out-physicaled,” Udoka said when asked what happened in the third quarter. “They looked like they came out in the second half and wanted to up their physicality and aggression on both ends, and they did that. I don’t think we obviously responded well on either end of the floor. 

But then Udoka took on the stars of his team afterwards as well, calling out Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. "It was our veterans Jayson and Jaylen who let it get away from us.”

The Celtics will regroup, and hope to get one or both of their missing key players (Marcus Smart, Al Horford) back for Game 2. 

Photo Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports