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Marcus Smart Shouts At Officials, Escorted Off Court After Celtics Embarrassing Loss To Nets

BOSTON (CBS) -- Tuesday night was beyond frustrating for the Boston Celtics. They led the Brooklyn Nets by 21 points in the second half, only to allow a ridiculous 51 points in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn outscored Boston 11-2 in overtime to hand the Celtics their worst loss of the season.

There were plenty of underlying factors that led to Tuesday night's collapse. Jayson Tatum was out sick. Kemba Walker was on a minutes restriction after missing the previous five games with knee soreness. Both Gordon Hayward and Jaylen Brown left the game with injuries.

That's still no excuse to allow 51 points in the fourth quarter -- the most points a Celtics team has given up in the final frame since 1972. Celtics guard Marcus Smart, no stranger to altercations with officials, let his frustration get the best of him after the defeat. Smart had to be escorted off the court after he lashed out at officials, sharing a few choice words with referee John Goble.

It's probably best not to try to read Smart's lips, but you can clearly see him shouting "horrible" (among other things) at Goble.

It was an infuriating evening for Smart, who scored 14 points off 5-for-15 shooting with 10 assists before fouling out in overtime. The frustration started before that, with Smart getting animated with officials toward the end of regulation after they ruled that Nets forward Rodions Kurucs forced a jump ball with 3.6 seconds left after he locked up Walker on an inbound pass. Smart disagreed, vehemently arguing that Kurucs fouled Walker.

The Nets won the ensuing jump ball and after a Brooklyn timeout, Smart fouled Caris Levert on a three-point attempt. That wasn't ideal, considering the Celtics were only up three at the time, and Levert sent the game to overtime by draining all three of his freebies. Levert ended the night with 51 points, scoring 37 of them in the fourth quarter and overtime.

Smart's outburst will likely cost him some cash, and there's an outside shot he could be hit with a suspension. That would leave the Celtics even more shorthanded as they visit the Cleveland Cavaliers on the second night of a back-to-back.

The Celtics will be without Walker on Wednesday night, Hayward likely won't play, and the status of Tatum and Brown remain unknown. Losing Smart to a suspension would make things even more difficult for Boston, as they look to shake off Tuesday night's miserable loss.

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