Marcus Smart's temper flared on Celtics bench late in last night's loss; he apologized postgame


Late in the 4th quarter of a dreadful loss to the Washington Wizards, Marcus Smart lost his cool on the Celtics bench during a timeout. He was subsequently sent to the showers with 2:29 still left on the clock:


Amir Johnson was sent with him in what seemed to be an effort to calm Marcus down, as the game was already essentially out of reach. It looks like Smart got to one of the walls in the locker room before he was able to do so:


Although there's no proof that was actually Smart who broke the wall, I'm gonna go ahead and make that assumption. Unless coach Brad came back there and threw a right hook to assert his dominance. After the game Stevens downplayed the incident, and alluded that Smart was merely upset that he wasn't allowed back into the game. Via Brian Robb of Boston.com:

“He just wanted to go back in,” Stevens explained. “And he had played 12 [straight] minutes or whatever so he wasn’t going to go back in. He wanted to go back in. He wanted to go back in badly.”

Getting sent to the locker room is a bigger deal than Stevens made it out to be, but I'd bet he's willing to forgive the outburst for what it was - just emotions getting the best of the young Celtic guard. Smart quickly realized after the game that his reaction was uncalled for, and issued an apology on Twitter:


The game was already over, so it didn't effect the outcome, but hopefully Smart can use this situation as a reminder to keep his emotions in check. Part of the reason I love Smart is that he plays with a ton of energy and passion, but he's got to keep it from boiling over - especially against his own team and coaching staff. That was a frustrating game to watch last night, so I imagine it was that ten-fold for the players on the floor. With Avery Bradley sidelined for the forceable future Smart is going to be more than needed against Houston tonight, and with another back to back looming Friday/Saturday against Orlando and Milwaukee.


Photo Credit - Winslow Townson/Associated Press

Follow Mark on Twitter: @MarkAL401