Emotions boiled over on Thursday night.
Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade yelled at coach Erik Spoelstra during a second half timeout during Game 3 against the Indiana Pacers. Heat veterans Udonis Haslem and Juwan Howard intervened to separate Wade from Spoelstra.
Indiana went on to win Game 3 94-75 to take a 2-1 series lead.
Wade struggled throughout the night, scoring just 5 points on 2-for-13 shooting while committing 5 turnovers in 37 minutes during the loss.
"That happens," Spoelstra said of the exchange during his post-game comments. "You know, anybody who has been part of a team, been a coach, been a player -- you have no idea how often things like that happen. It was during a very emotional part of the game, we were getting our butt kicked, those exchanges happen all the time during the course of an NBA season."
Spoelstra, who has coached Wade for four seasons and been on Miami's staff since Wade arrived in 2003, tried to brush off the exchange, which appeared to have been set off after Wade missed a jumper and did not get back in transition defense.
"Dwyane and I have been together for a long time," Spoelstra said. "We've been through basically everything... That [exchange] was nothing, the least of our concerns... I've been around Dwyane for many years and I've seen him bounce back on similar storylines like this and come back and have great games."
