ORLANDO — Celtics forwardsMarcus Morris andJaylen Brown both said Saturday there is no lingering issue stemming from their minor bench altercation during Thursday’s loss to the Heat. They said they have talked about it with each other and moved on.
“We moved past it after the timeout,’’ Morris said before the Celtics’ 105-103 loss to the Magic. “I know everybody wants to catch everything on camera, but catch the stuff that happens afterward, when we sat right beside each other and it was over.
“I know social media is going to make a big deal about something like that, but I feel as though I’m one of the leaders on this team, so if I have an engagement with any of my teammates, we all know that it’s basketball related and it goes nothing past the court. It’s just two guys that both care about the game, and that’s all it was.’’
A video shot by a fan sitting behind the Celtics’ bench Thursday showed Morris shoving Brown before teammates stepped between them. Prior to that, Brown had missed a pair of shots inside and then failed to hustle back on defense as the Heat scored an easy transition basket.
Morris appeared frustrated by Brown’s lack of effort. He clapped his hands at him and shouted something.
“Nothing major,’’ Brown said. “Let it go. Move on.’’
Morris said that he did not need to shove Brown, but said it is important to be open and honest about frustrations or difficulties that may arise during a game or throughout the grind of a season.
“To be a good team and the team we want to be, we have to be able to be open with each other and be able to discuss stuff that’s going on on the court,’’ he said. “If it leads to a little bumping and pushing and shoving, what is it? It’s nothing. You get past that type of stuff and keep going.’’
Celtics coach Brad Stevens was not concerned about the dust-up. He said his teams that have thrived and his teams that have struggled have all had moments like that. They just were not always captured on camera.
“Both guys were the first people to say it’s not a big deal,’’ Stevens said. “Both guys wish that wouldn’t have happened with cameras watching.’’
Stevens smiled as he thought back to his biggest takeaway from the dispute: The fact that fiery guard Marcus Smart had been a peacemaker.
“I looked at it as, everyone else was watching Marcus Morris and Jaylen, how about Smart breaking it up? Talk about growth, holy smokes. I thought he’d be in the middle of one of those. That was pretty good. You guys all looked at it as a negative. I could not believe what I was seeing. So, pretty good.’’
More time for Horford
Center Al Horford, who was restricted to about 25 minutes per game after missing seven December games due to left knee pain, can now play 30 or more, Stevens said.
“I think he feels way better, and playing him progressively slowly has been effective,’’ Stevens said. “He won’t play 40, but he’s cleared to be in the 30s.’’
Horford, who had 10 points and 11 rebounds in 30 minutes Saturday, was diagnosed with patellofemoral pain syndrome, which occurs when cartilage under the kneecap is damaged due to injury or overuse. Horford has played in 11 consecutive games since Dec. 23. Stevens said there are no plans for him to sit in the near future.
“We’ve been maintenance-gaming him with all these 25-minute restrictions,’’ Stevens said. “So it’s been more about being able to do it night after night after night after night without any pain. So I think that there’s a chance that at some point any one of our guys would sit. But the reason we progressed Al the way we have by those minutes [restrictions] is so he could play.’’
Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @adamhimmelsbach.
