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Report: Smart-Brown argument spurred locker room flare-up

Madison Quisenberry / National Basketball Association / Getty

Boston Celtics teammates Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown engaged in a locker room confrontation and had to be separated after the team's Game 2 loss to the Miami Heat on Thursday, The Athletic's Shams Charania reports.

It was reported after the game that Smart shouted at teammates following the 106-101 defeat, which put the Celtics in an 0-2 hole in the Eastern Conference finals.

The 26-year-old guard stormed into the locker room and told other players they needed to be held accountable, with Brown snapping back that the Celtics' actions must come as a team and not individually, sources told Charania.

In a tense interaction with objects being thrown, teammates reportedly diffused the situation before a physical altercation could take place.

Brown and Smart smoothed over the tensions and will focus on the task at hand, a source told Charania. Celtics coach Brad Stevens convened a late-night meeting with Brown, Smart, Kemba Walker, and Jayson Tatum to work through emotions, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reports.

Smart, a tenacious defender and the Celtics' emotional leader, also reportedly had verbal exchanges with some Boston assistant coaches during the game.

After the incident, Brown heaped praise on Smart.

"(Smart) plays with passion, he's full of fire, and that's what I love about him most," Brown said, according to Charania. "He has that desire and that will, and we need him to continue to have that. We embrace each other, and who Marcus is, I love him for it."

Game 3 goes Saturday.

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