Marcin Gortat: The Celtics ‘Want To Provoke Us’

In the words of Isaiah Thomas, the Wizards and Celtics do not like each other.

Wizards center Marcin Gortat doesn’t deny Thomas’ assessment, but says that the Celtics aim to provoke the hostility.

Via Eurosport Poland (roughly translated by Bartosz Bielecki):

After Game 2, Isaiah Thomas said, “We don’t like them, and they don’t like us”…

 

Gortat: Which is a popular story with the media. This hostility thing between these two teams look a bit different, though. We play tougher, but only care about our own team, while they want to provoke us. Avery Bradley approached me last game, and said that if I set one more screen, he’s going to beat me up.

 

And what response did he get?

 

Gortat: I laughed him off. I advised him to come back when he grows up and gains some weight. It’s really the Celtics who get excited with this. In other words, they build their unity around their dislike of Wizards players.

Gortat pointed to an incident after Game 4 in Washington, in which Celtics guard Avery Bradley threatened to “beat [Gortat] up.”

To which Gortat responded, “I advised him to come back when he grows up and gains some weight.”

https://youtu.be/U-AvwdeRik8?t=3s

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Isaiah Thomas on the Wizards: ‘We Don’t Like Them and They Don’t Like Us’