Erik Spoelstra said his mid-game spat with Jimmy Butler showed the passion within the Miami Heat ranks and their unwillingness to tolerate slumping performances.
Coach Spoelstra and six-time All-Star Butler, along with Udonis Haslem on the Heat bench, appeared to exchange fiery words and gestures during a timeout as the Heat struggled against the Golden State Warriors.
Golden State bolted to a 69-50 lead after scoring the first 19 points of the third quarter, and amid this slide came the dispute within the Heat ranks.
Spoelstra slammed a clipboard down onto the court and confronted Butler before others attempted to separate the pair.
Allowing himself to joke after the game, which saw the Heat roar back to establish an 84-81 lead before crumpling to a 118-104 defeat, Spoelstra explained the incident.
"Everybody was wondering where the dinner plans were tonight after the game," he said, before answering more seriously.
"It was pretty clear, we have a very competitive, gnarly group, and we were getting our a***s kicked, and it's two straight games we were not playing to the level we wanted to play.
"Every person in that huddle was pretty animated about our disappointment at how we were playing."
This game followed a 113-106 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, and the Eastern Conference-leading Heat's record now stands at 47-26.
Asked about whether the public bickering could have a lasting impact, Spoelstra said: "It won't, we have bigger things to accomplish, but we do want to play better, and everything has to be better across the board.
"It starts with our leadership, our veteran players have to lead, and then we just have to play better, play better to our identity and that's really all the discussions were.
"I know how it can look from the outside, but that is more our language than playing without passion or without toughness, or without multiple efforts and lifelessness.
"Everything that happened in the hall from then on, as we cut that 19-point lead, that's way more to our personality."
Spoelstra even hinted the flash point could have a positive impact.
"You can use moments during a season to catapult you. You can galvanise together over frustration and disappointment," he said. "Teams can also go the other way. I don't see that with our group. But we have needed a kick in the butt from these two games.
"These two games were disappointing to everybody. You see a competitive group that is not playing to the level or the standards we want to play at.
"Let's give credit to Golden State. We played with great passion to get back into the game, but they executed well, and they made some big shots."
Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving delivered big performances, but the Memphis Grizzlies were unstoppable in the first half on the way to a 132-120 win over the Brooklyn Nets.
Irving finished with 43 points (15-of-27 shooting, six-of-11 from three) and eight assists, while Durant posted figures of 35 points (12-of-28 shooting, 10-of-10 from the free-throw line) with 11 rebounds, eight assists, two blocks and two steals.
But the Grizzlies would not be denied in front of their home fans, clicking on all cylinders early to jump out to a 76-62 half-time lead.
It was yet another stunning showing without MVP candidate Ja Morant who missed again through injury, with seven Grizzlies scoring double figures to pick up the slack.
Desmond Bane (eight-of-17 shooting) and De'Anthony Melton (eight-of-13 shooting) led the way with 23 points each, while Jaren Jackson Jr swatted away four shots as he continued his charge for Defensive Player of the Year.
With the win, the Grizzlies moved to 50-23 for the year, and an incredible 15-2 in games Morant has missed.
Warriors 'punk' the Heat
A day after Draymond Green said his Golden State Warriors were being "punked" in recent losses, they responded in style, beating the Miami Heat 118-104 without Green and injured star Stephen Curry.
In a game where Heat All-Star Jimmy Butler had to be physically separated from coach Erik Spoelstra during a time-out, the Miami defence simply could not get stops in the second half as tempers flared.
Jordan Poole shone yet again for the Warriors, scoring 30 points on 10-of-18 shooting, going three-of-seven from long range, while rookie Jonathan Kuminga, All-Star Andrew Wiggins and bench player Damion Lee chipped in with 22 points each.
Ayton and the Suns shine in Minnesota, Davion dominates
A 42-point fourth quarter capped off a terrific 125-116 comeback win for the Phoenix Suns on the road against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Trailing 64-51 at the halfway stage and by five at three-quarter time, the Suns got 11 points from centre Deandre Ayton down the stretch to cap off a big 35-point (15-of-24 shooting), 14-rebound performance.
Devin Booker controlled the contest for the Suns, scoring 28 points on only 15 field goal attempts, going 13-of-16 from the free throw line while also dishing out seven assists.
Meanwhile, rookie top-10 pick Davion Mitchell starred in the Sacramento Kings' 110-109 away win against the Indiana Pacers, scoring 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting and collecting seven assists in arguably his best game as a professional.
Joel Embiid scored 30 points and had 10 rebounds, three steals and three blocks for the Philadelphia 76ers in their 126-121 win over a Los Angeles Lakers side who were without LeBron James.
Kyrie Irving will make his Brooklyn Nets home debut for the season on Sunday after changes to New York's vaccine mandate come into effect on Thursday, according to reports.
Irving, 29, has only played 19 games this season after deciding not to get vaccinated, but has excelled when in the line-up, averaging 27 points, five rebounds and five assists.
Despite athletes playing for New York teams requiring vaccination to play, visiting players were not subjected to the same requirements, with this move seen as 'levelling the playing field', as put by The Athletic's Shams Charania.
With the new exemption for in-town athletes and performers kicking in on Thursday, it means Irving will be eligible to suit up for the Nets' Sunday fixture against the visiting Charlotte Hornets.
It is important timing for the Nets as their positioning in the play-in tournament means they likely will need to win a home game to earn their way into the playoffs.
Head coach Michael Malone has agreed a new multi-year contract extension with the Denver Nuggets.
Malone's existing deal at the Ball Arena was due to expire at the conclusion of the 2022-23 season.
However, the Nuggets have announced the 50-year-old has put pen to paper on fresh terms – although they are yet to be released.
Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke said in a statement: "This extension is well deserved for Coach Malone and one we are very excited to announce.
"You can easily point to the on-court success that Michael has brought and the improvements the team has made each year under his watch, and you can also point to the selfless, hard-working culture that has developed and grown during his tenure."
Malone has guided the Nuggets to the play-offs on three occasions since taking over in June 2015, including the Conference finals in 2019-20.
The former Sacremento Kings coach has steered them to sixth in the Western Conference this term with a 43-30 record.
Malone has registered 309 career victories with the Nuggets – a tally only bettered by Doug Moe and George Karl.
LeBron James will miss Wednesday's showcase game between his Los Angeles Lakers and the visiting Philadelphia 76ers.
The team is calling it knee soreness after he also missed a string of games in February with left-knee swelling.
James, 37, has played 54 out of a possible 72 games so far this season for the Lakers, and currently leads the league in points-per-game at 30.0, leading Joel Embiid (29.8) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (29.7).
If James were to hold off Embiid and Antetokounmpo, it would be just the second scoring title of his career after he also averaged 30.0 in the 2007-08 season with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Embiid will need to score 45 points to finish the night in the lead for the scoring title.
In the four games the Lakers have won since the All-Star break, James is averaging 45 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.
The Lakers are ninth in the Western Conference with a 31-41 record going into the game.
Draymond Green says the Golden State Warriors are "playing stupid" after they got "punked" by "one of the worst teams in the league" the Orlando Magic on Tuesday.
The Warriors slumped to a third consecutive defeat, going down 94-90 after scoring only 16 points in the final quarter at Amway Center.
Golden State slipped to 47-25 and are third in the Western Conference, with the struggling Magic registering only a 20th win of the season.
Steve Kerr's Warriors side were once again out of sorts in the absence of the injured Stephen Curry and Green pulled no punches with his verdict on their latest loss.
The four-time NBA All-Star said: "I think we're playing soft. We're playing stupid. We're just not playing good basketball and we're getting punked.
"It's hard to win a game getting punked. So that's where we are right now."
Green added: "In order to execute, that requires a certain level of physicality. We're not meeting that.
"No disrespect to the Orlando Magic, but that's one of the worst teams in the league. We can't match that with them. And if you can't match that with them, you definitely can't match that going against a great team."
Head coach Kerr also gave a frank assessment of Golden State's shortcomings.
He said: "We have to be smarter. There has to be a level of discipline and accountability, of competitive desire.
"And, I know these are great guys. I love these guys. I know they want to win. But we have to learn how to win. Right now we don't know how to win."
Trae Young's return to Madison Square Garden was like a recurring nightmare for New York Knicks fans as the Atlanta Hawks prevailed 117-111.
Young, who became public enemy number one in New York when he erupted in the playoffs, eliminating the Knicks in the process, was spectacular again on Tuesday night.
He finished with a game-high 45 points (13-of-25 shooting, seven-of-15 from three) to go with eight assists, and was supported by a season-high 32 points (11-of-20 shooting, four-of-10 from three) from Bogdan Bogdanovic off the bench.
New York's R.J. Barrett played hard, but was ultimately inefficient, scoring 30 points on nine-of-25 shooting, going one-of-seven from long range and 11-of-17 from the free throw line.
The win pulls the Hawks' record even at 36-36, with last year's Eastern Conference finalists set for a play-in battle as they occupy the 10 seed.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
