Heat's Caleb Martin tackles Raptors' Christian Koloko into stands, leads to wild skirmish

Martin and Koloko were both ejected once things settled down

Tempers flared during the Miami Heat and Toronto Raptors game on Saturday night as Miami’s Caleb Martin tackled Toronto’s Christian Koloko into the stands behind one of the baskets. 

In the third quarter, the Raptors’ Pascal Siakam shot a corner three-pointer, which had multiple players looking for the rebound.  Martin was trying to box out Koloko and the two were quickly tangled up as the latter caught the rebound but fell to the hardwood. 

But Martin was standing over him and that resulted in a heated exchange and a tackle into the stands. Players on both teams rushed over, causing a pile-up that needed some time to break up. 

When things settled down, referees hit Koloko and Martin with technical fouls and ejections, as both of them hit the showers early. 

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Caleb Martin #16 of the Miami Heat scores on a break away dunk against the Philadelphia 76ers in the second half at FTX Arena on March 05, 2022 in Miami, Florida. (Mark Brown/Getty Images)

After the game, Martin spoke to reporters, saying that "there was a lot of plays leading up to it. It was a chippy game."

Koloko didn’t understand his ejection in the situation. 

"I just stood up for myself and I get ejected," he said. "That’s what happened."

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Raptors head coach Nick Nurse believes the league will take a long look at what happened in the situation. 

"Several people were in that thing that probably shouldn’t have been," he mentioned. 

Head coach of the Toronto Raptors Nick Nurse reacts during the fourth quarter against the Miami Heat at FTX Arena on October 22, 2022 in Miami, Florida. (Megan Briggs/Getty Images)

The NBA will surely look at this situation and fines could be dished out to the players that got ejected. 

The game would eventually work into a Heat win, though the Raptors made things close after outscoring their opponent 33-21. But Miami won it 112-109 behind Jimmy Butler’s 24 points and Max Strus coming off the bench with 20 points. 

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Martin left the game with eight points, five rebounds and two assists. 

Kyle Lowry, facing his former Toronto team, dropped 17 points with six assists and two rebounds, while Tyler Herro had 14 points, eight boards and six assists. 

Tyler Herro #14 of the Miami Heat and Fred VanVleet #23 of the Toronto Raptors help pull away teammates after Caleb Martin #16 of the Miami Heat and Christian Koloko #35 of the Toronto Raptors get into an altercation during the third quarter at FTX Arena on October 22, 2022 in Miami, Florida. (Megan Briggs/Getty Images)

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Siakam and Gary Trent Jr. were tied for the team lead in points with 23 on the night, while Precious Achiuwa had 18 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double. 

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