The regular NBA games began on Thursday night after the All-Star weekend. The table toppers of the Eastern Conference Boston Celtics took on the Indiana Pacers in the opening game of the night. The game went to the wire as Jayson Tatum and co. pulled off a close win in overtime. Despite the nail-biting finish, a third-quarter drama between players caught the attention of the fans. They flooded Twitter comments with hilarious opinions on the drama.
The Pacers are the 12th seed in the Eastern Conference with an underwhelming 26-35 record. However, the team put up a valiant effort against the Celtics with an all-round performance. Moreover, Celtics star Marcus Smart and Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton engaged in a heated exchange during the game resulting in a stoppage of play for a brief moment. The players and referees later stepped in to separate the players.
Jayson Tatum helped the Celtics seal the game amid a chaotic third quarter
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During the third quarter, Tyrese Haliburton picked up a foul when he repeatedly bumped into Marcus Smart. As soon as the refs called the foul, the duo engaged in a verbal exchange until the other players separated them. Notably, the Pacers were four points up with five minutes left in the quarter. However, Smart didn’t hold back as he ran up against Haliburton for a layup and flexed aggressively in front of him. The referees immediately called a technical foul on Smart after his act.
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The fans swarmed the Twitter comments reacting to the incident with hilarious responses. One user said, “Already got the clown hair, now he just needs the nose.” Following are some reactions from NBA Twitter.
what’s even happening pic.twitter.com/D5kcV50kii
— Eric Soares🇧🇷🇵🇹 (@ericsoares23) February 24, 2023
Already got the clown hair, now he just needs the nose
— LouAye (@LouAyeBurner) February 24, 2023
Idk bro your boy got flexed on pic.twitter.com/J0o5NoXBv8
— 🃏 (@_MelvinSmith) February 24, 2023
Hali is fake tough 😭
— ☃️ 𝕟𝕜𝕤 (@knickskaiszn) February 24, 2023
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The most unexpected heated exchange ive seen and Marcus Smart be like pic.twitter.com/MKSeKWEWal
— AY(Mr. Plain)🇸🇴 (@ayyouneverknow) February 24, 2023
The Celtics pulled off another close finish in the overtime just weeks after a controversial overtime win against the Los Angeles Lakers. Celtics star Tatum put up an impressive 31 points, 12 rebounds, and 7 seven assists to take his team over the line. Pacers center Myles Turner put up a fighting 40 points for the team but it eventually went in vain.
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What do you make of the third-quarter drama between Marcus Smart and Tyrese Haliburton? Was the technical foul call on Smart fair? Let us know in the comments below.