Video: Miami Heat's Caleb Martin and Toronto Raptors' Christian Koloko's massive fight ends up in first row of stands
The Miami Heat logged their first win of the 2022-23 NBA season against the Toronto Raptors on a night that saw Heat's Caleb Martin and Raptors' Christian Koloko go at each other after a box-out attempt went sour:
Caleb Martin tackles Christian Koloko into the stands 😳
https://t.co/bY4gg7v27p
As Martin boxed out Koloko for the rebound, Koloko fell and the scuffle ensued as Martin pushed him into the first row. Both were ejected shortly after. In a postgame interview both Martin and Koloko explained their sides:
“I just think that there’s a lot plays that were kind of leading up to it,” Martin said. “It was a chippy game. That’s typically how the game goes with Toronto.
"It’s a chippy back and forth. But ultimately I just think that emotions were high and the game was a close game. It was back and forth. Overall, I got to be more professional in the way I handle those type of situations.”
While Martin claimed the chippy environment to be the case, Koloko was confounded about why the scuffle even took place:
I feel like everybody saw what happened,” Koloko said. “I got fouled and I fell and I don’t know what he was trying to do. I just stood up for myself and I get ejected. So that’s what happened.”
“When he fouled me, he was basically grabbing me and pushing me,” Koloko continue. “I don’t know. … I’m confused. I don’t know why. I don’t even know him, so I don’t know what was going on in his head.
Miami Heat's hole at the power-forward position, 1-2 start to the 2022-23 NBA season
In the last three seasons, the Miami Heat have made the Eastern Conference finals or better for two, going to the finals in 2020, and the Eastern Conference finals in 2022.
The only exception in that run was a first-round sweep at the hands of the eventual champions, the Milwaukee Bucks in 2021.
With them missing out on the 2022 NBA Finals basically on one missed shot (Jimmy Butler's three-point attempt over Al Horford in Game 7) their roster looks relatively weakened when talked about in the context of the Eastern Conference.
P.J. Tucker's loss to the Philadelphia 76ers created a hole in the power-forward position that is currently being filled by Caleb Martin.
Moreover, the Heat are less likely to finish at the top of the Eastern Conference this year than they did previously, owing to increased competition.
Their start to the season has been all but exciting. After a poor offensive outing from Bam Adebayo, the Miami Heat dropped their first game of the season, which also marked the debut of reigning Sixth Man of the Year Tyler Herro.
They followed it up with another loss, this time at the hands of the reigning Eastern Conference champions, the Boston Celtics. The loss, however, had many significant upsides, with Adebayo finding his groove offensively and shooting 8-for-11 from the field.
Their bench ended up being detrimental to their cause, with Strus, Dedmon and Highsmith shooting 2-for-10 from the field with a cumulative box plus-minus of -63.