Celtics' Marcus Smart Fined $25K for Altercation with Hawks' Trae Young

The NBA announced it fined Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart $25,000 "for initiating an on-court altercation and pulling Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young to the floor" during Saturday's contest.

The incident in question happened in the final two minutes of Boston's 134-125 victory over the Hawks. Smart was ejected, and both players received a technical foul.

Official Sean Wright told a pool reporter the decision to eject Smart was made "for the grab and takedown of Trae Young." Wright also explained Young received a technical foul "for getting up and pointing in Marcus Smart's face."

The incident overshadowed an excellent performance for the Hawks guard, who finished with 35 points, 13 assists, three rebounds and just three turnovers.

It wasn't enough to counter Boston's balanced effort with six scorers in double figures, including Jayson Tatum (34 points, 15 rebounds and six assists). Smart was one of those six and posted 11 points and six assists on 4-of-12 shooting from the field.

Boston won the first two matchups between the two teams and finishes its regular season with a home game against the Hawks on April 9. An eventual playoff series between the two sides isn't out of the question either, as the Celtics are second in the Eastern Conference and the Hawks appear headed to the play-in tournament in eighth.

All it might take is one win in the play-in for Atlanta to earn a first-round date with the championship contenders.

If that becomes a reality, the apparent bad blood between Young and Smart could be a storyline. After all, Smart would be a candidate to guard Young throughout a postseason series as one of the league's better perimeter defenders, and facing each other a number of times in a row in the postseason could lead to increased animosity.

It spilled over during Saturday's game and cost Smart as a result.