Tatum, Walker Downplay Marcus Smart Incident in Celtics Locker Room After Game 2

The Boston Celtics are frustrated.  

After blowing a 13-point halftime lead in Thursday's 106-101 loss to the Miami Heat and falling behind 2-0 in the Eastern Conference Finals, there was apparently an incident or argument with tempers flaring.

"We're frustrated," Jayson Tatum said while downplaying the events, per Mark Medina of USA Today. "But that's team sports. You're not supposed to be happy being down 0-2."

Jaylen Brown provided more context, saying he loves Marcus Smart for the passion he brings:

After the loss, Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe reported Smart was among those who were yelling in the locker room during a "raucous" altercation (warning: language):

To say Boston played poorly for stretches in the latest loss would be an understatement. It turned the ball over 20 times and seemingly had no answer when the Heat switched to a matchup zone in the third quarter.

Miami enjoyed a 37-17 advantage in that quarter to put itself in position to win, and Jimmy Butler and Goran Dragic took over in crunch time.

Butler notched multiple key steals that turned into points on the other end, one of which came on a Celtics inbounds pass. Dragic drove the lane for multiple key baskets as the Heat seized control. He also made an incredible step-back three at the end of the shot clock to go up five in the closing minutes.

Boston also lost a double-digit lead in the second half of Game 1, which will surely leave the team thinking about what could have been as it stares at a 2-0 deficit.

Whether it can use the frustration as fuel and battle back in Game 3 is now the biggest question.