Adebayo-Tatum Incident Sparks On-Court Drama in Miami's Game 4 Loss

The Miami Heat and Boston Celtics are technically in the midst of a playoff series. The only problem is that much of Miami's roster — injured or on the court only in spirit — already seems on vacation.

Luckily for fans, anyway, there has been a bit of after-the-whistle drama. The most recent example was a dustup between Bam Adebayo and Jayson Tatum late in the fourth quarter of a sleepy Game 4 102-88 loss to the Celtics.

The clash occurred in the fourth quarter after Heat guard Patty Mills was penalized for tripping Celtics' Derrick White, leading to a stop in play. Despite the game being paused, Tatum went ahead with a 3-pointer attempt, which Adebayo found unamusing, and contested.

Bam Flagrant 1 after contesting Tatum dead ball shot 👀 pic.twitter.com/GcXoNQAia1

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 30, 2024

The move resulted in Tatum rolling his ankle and collapsing on the court. As one may expect, that brought immediate tension between the teams, who already had their fair share of fisticuffs and shoving matches dating back to the LeBron James "Big 3" era teams over a decade ago. In the current series, the teams almost broke into a brawl during Game 1 after another incident involving a foul against Tatum, which a Boston broadcaster dubiously claimed was an intentional attempt to hurt the star.

Tatum sat clutching his ankle for a few moments but was ultimately fine. Following the game, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said that based on the eye test alone, Tatum seems good-to-go.

"I didn't ask him after the game, but I'm sure he's fine," Mazzulla said.

Bam Adebayo received a flagrant foul after Tatum attempted a shot after the whistle.

Jayson Tatum rolled his ankle on the play. pic.twitter.com/EmcgkoZXDO

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 30, 2024

Officials reviewed the play and assessed a level-one flagrant foul to Adebayo for his aggressive defense on the non-active play. Celtics' veteran Al Horford received a technical foul after shoving Adebayo in the ensuing scuffle.

My favorite part about tonight was Al Horford not letting that cheap shot by Bam slide.

The OG 🫡🫡

pic.twitter.com/7qGTiHwIP4

— CelticsUnite (@CelticsUnite18) April 30, 2024

To be fair — Udonis Haslem would have likely taken off Bam's head after this play. Heat Culture isn't so fun when the rabbit has the gun, we guess. You hate to see it, but it's painful watching the current shell-of-a-contender Heat squad play basketball.

"I don't even know. We just gonna move on from that, you gonna get me fined."

Bam Adebayo on the late foul in Game 4 involving him and Jayson Tatum and getting hit with a flagrant 1 😅

(via @ZachWeinberger) https://t.co/3FE1CFJt1H pic.twitter.com/4v3UwvBH83

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) April 30, 2024

After the game, Adebayo wasn't in a talking mood about the dramatic play in yet another undramatic loss, saying only, "I don't even know, dawg. We're just gonna move on from that. You're gonna get me fined."

It would be hard to blame Bam, his teammates, or fans, for that matter, for being speechless and altogether over this season. Coming back from a 3-1 deficit heading back to Boston for Game 5 would be a monumental task for a fully healthy Heat team to overcome, but for one without Jimmy Butler and Terry Rozier, it feels like a funeral will take place on Wednesday night at the TD Garden.

Wear black. The Heat's season is in its death throes.