Eastern Conference Recaps, March 11: Tempers Flare Between Trae Young-Marcus Smart While Jayson Tatum Leads Celtics Past Hawks

Jayson Tatum had 34 points and 15 rebounds and Marcus Smart was ejected after altercation with Trae Young

While Trae Young and Marcus Smart got into yet another scuffle, it was Jayson Tatum doing most of the flexing on the court in the Boston Celtics 134-125 victory. 

Tatum had 34 points and 15 rebounds but it was the incident between Young and Smart near the end of the game that drew most of the attention. Both players tumbled to the ground during the altercation.  

The incident ended with Smart getting ejected.

“I just saw them both kind of go down, definitely chirping at each other going down,” Celtics forward Al Horford said. “We were all in there trying to do damage control.”

The Celtics led 101-89 in the fourth quarter before the Hawks pulled to within six in the last minute. Young led the Hawks with 35 points and 13 assists. 

OTHER NOTES:

-The Los Angeles Clippers rode Kawhi Leonard’s 38 points to a 106-95 victory against the New York Knicks. It was his seventh straight game with 20 or more points. Paul George had 22 points and Marcus Morris had 11. Russell Westbrook had seven assists to pass Isiah Thomas for No. 9 on the NBA’s all-time list.

Immanuel Quickley led the Knicks with 26 points and 10 rebounds.

NEXT KNICKS GAME AGAINST THE HEAT: Mar. 22 at Miami

-Talen Horton-Tucker recorded a season-high 37 points and 10 assists to lead the Utah Jazz to a 119-111 victory against the Charlotte Hornets. It was the most points he's scored since Apr. 7. Rookie Walker Kessler had 17 points and 16 rebounds.

Kelly Oubre led the Hornets with 24 points and Terry Rozier had 22.

NEXT JAZZ GAME AGAINST THE HEAT: Mar. 13 at Miami

-Jalen Smith’s 20 points off the bench lifted the Indiana Pacers to a 121-115 victory against the Detroit Pistons, who have lost 11 straight.

Smith scored 11 of his points in the fourth quarter. Isaiah Livers led the Pistons with a career-high 18 points.

NEXT PISTONS GAME AGAINST THE HEAT: Mar. 19 in Detroit

-After trailing by four points in the fourth quarter, the Chicago Bulls went on a 13-0 run to take a 119-111 victory against the Houston Rockets. Zach LaVine led the Bulls with 36 points and DeMar DeRozan had 27. Rookie Jabari Smith had 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Rockets.

NEXT BULLS GAME AGAINST THE HEAT: Mar. 18 in Chicago

-The Golden State Warriors snapped a three-game losing streak with a 125-116 overtime victory against the Milwaukee Bucks. Stephen Curry led the way with 36 points, 22 of them coming in the fourth quarter and overtime. Klay Thompson had 22 points and Donte DiVincenzo had 20.

Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez led the Bucks with 19 points.

Cory Nelson is a contributor to Inside The Heat. He attended Northern Virginia Community College. He can be reached at corymckenzienelson@hotmail.com or follow him on Twitter @CKenzyNelson. You can also check out his personal blog HERE.