Marcus Smart fined for skirmish in preseason finale

After escalating a kerfuffle between Aron Baynes and J.R. Smith, Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart has been assessed a $25,000 fine.

In Saturday night’s bout with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Baynes and Smith were tangled up underneath the basket on a mismatch just 9 minutes into the game. Smith initiated the scuffle by shoving Baynes, and Smart took exception to this by attacking Smith from behind. Smith and the Celtics have a lengthy history of, well, issues, dating back to the 2013 Playoffs when Smith was suspended for elbowing Jason Terry in the head. Smith was also assessed a $15,000 fine for initiating this situation with Baynes.

Smart escalated the situation to the point where it took both Terry Rozier and Jayson Tatum to hold him back from a taunting Smith. Uncertainty after the scuffle stemmed from whether or not Smart would face any suspension time after the situation in combination with his postgame remarks:

These remarks, which were in response to questions posed to him, spurred a series of subtweets by J.R. Smith. In his own response to the media, Smith noted that he didn’t want to waste any money getting fined by the NBA for either his Supreme tattoo nor any issues with Marcus Smart. With this fine, he can wave goodbye to $15,000.

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Only the players and the referees know what really was said on the court, so it’s useless speculating. In the end, Boston will be fortunate to have their enforcer on the court when they face off against the Philadelphia 76ers for the season opener on Tuesday, October 16th.