Watch- Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley hilariously square off after a Heat blowout in Game 3
NBA legends-turned-TNT analysts Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley had some fun during Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals on Sunday. Late in the fourth quarter of the Miami Heat’s 128-102 blowout victory over the Boston Celtics, O’Neal and Barkley jokingly pretended to square off.
This came as the in-game commentators had been calling for the Celtics to show more fight and intensity throughout the second half. Following their brief stare-down, the two legends then had a quick laugh before sitting back down.
Watch the moment below:
Shaq and Chuck 😂 https://t.co/K1gIN1Q3eO
Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley react to Heat blowing out Celtics in Game 3
Following the Miami Heat’s Game 3 win over the Boston Celtics, Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley both spoke about how disappointed they were in Boston:
“I’d be embarrassed as a Celtics fan,” Barkley said.
“Yeah, that was bad,” O’Neal said.
“I don’t even think you mind losing, but that was humiliating,” Barkley said.
“Since the Celtics quit, can we quit?” O’Neal said.
The Inside NBA crew then welcomed Heat point guard Gabe Vincent onto their postgame show. This came after Vincent finished with a game-high 29 points with six 3-pointers on 78.6% shooting.
Vincent was asked about the reason for the Heat’s playoff success. He spoke about how Miami is playing sound team basketball and has multiple guys who can step up on any given night:
“We’re just playing good basketball. Good team basketball,” Vincent said. “We know where the ball’s gotta go and we play from there. Guys make plays and we never know who it’s gonna be. Tonight it’s me, it might be somebody else on Tuesday.”
Vincent was then asked how Miami stayed so motivated in Game 3 despite being up 2-0 in the series. Vincent said that the Heat entered the game with a killer mindset:
“We need to come out to kill,” Vincent said. “We can’t take our foot off the gas. We knew they’d come in with a sense of urgency, but we had to be urgent as well. This game was important to us just as it was to them.”
Following their Game 3 win, the Heat lead the Celtics 3-0 in their Eastern Conference finals series. Game 4 will be on Tuesday in Miami, where the Heat will have a chance to advance to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2020.