Following the Warriors 110-88 loss to the Warriors, Steve Kerr talked about how he felt Marcus Smart’s play on Steph Curry in the second quarter was, “dangerous,”.
The Warriors were not too happy with Celtics' Marcus Smart after Wednesday’s 110-88 loss. On the same sequence in the second quarter, Smart managed to both roll up on Steph Curry’s ankle while going for a loose ball along the sideline and commit a flagrant foul on Klay Thompson after kicking him on the fastbreak.
Thompson wasn’t hurt on the play, but Curry left the game with a left ankle injury and was getting an MRI after the game. While Warriors coach Steve Kerr thought the dive that injured Curry was a “dangerous play,” Smart defended himself after the game to reporters.
“I hope Steph’s alright,” Smart said. “I didn’t even see him. I just saw the ball, dove on the ball, tried to make a play. Unfortunately that occurred. I’m really down right now about it.”
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SIGN UP HERE Smart also said he’s not a dirty player, despite the label that some might put on him.
“I could really care less about that,” Smart said. “I know who I am. My teammates, my colleagues, they know I'm not a dirty player. They know I'm going to go out there and leave everything out there on the floor for my team and I'm going to hustle.”
In regards to kicking Thompson, Smart credited the Warriors guard for a “nice pump fake” and said that he tried to stop himself in the air, but his leg “happened to get caught” when Thompson was going up with the shot. Smart added that he checked on Thompson after the play.
“I was going to block it and I was trying to stop,” Smart said. “He gave me a pump fake. Part of my body kept going and another part didn't. It’s part of the game. Especially when you’re playing against a great player. You try to make a play on the ball, and he does a good job of selling his shot and going to the free throw line.”
Related: What we learned from Warriors' blowout loss to Celtics
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Celtics coach Ime Udoka took Smart’s side. On Curry’s injury, he just saw two players fighting for a loose ball.
“The play that they were complaining about was totally legal and not malicious at all to me,” Udoka said. “One guy dove for it. One guy reached for it.”
Kerr was visibly upset with Smart after the play, exchanging words with Smart while the referees were reviewing the play. Smart said that opposing coaches don’t talk to him too often, but he didn’t mind Kerr saying his piece respectfully.
“We’re all human,” Smart said. “He has emotions just like I have emotions and vice versa. I think it’s ok. As long as the respect is there from both parties, it’s OK to talk.”
