Like many members of the Boston Celtics, Sunday's loss to the Indiana Pacers was one to forget for Marcus Smart.
After entering the afternoon with the sixth-best plus/minus rating in the NBA, Smart was a minus-20 -- his worst of the season -- in the 128-107 loss, the third-worst margin of defeat this season for the Celtics.
But what truly set the game apart for Smart was his technical foul late in the fourth quarter, in which he and coach Ime Udoka received matching T's for continuing to argue with lead official Kane Fitzgerald during a timeout.
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After the game, Smart continued the dialogue with the officials on the court at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in what seemed to be a relatively calm manner. As NBC Sports Boston's Chris Forsberg noted on Postgame Live, that was a good place to have the conversation with the officials as opposed to chasing them into the locker room.
Kendrick Perkins, who once led the league in technical fouls for the Oklahoma City Thunder and finished second in another season for the Celtics, said on PGL that usually officials don't even give you that opportunity on the floor.
Still, Perk cautioned Smart not to wind up on the bad side of any officials.
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"Just know that, as a guy that led the league in technical fouls, that wasn't on the best terms with referees, trust me, the last thing you want to do is be on (their) bad side," Perkins said, as seen in the video above.
For the season, Smart now has four technical fouls. Players don't receive a one-game suspension until their 16th, so he should be fine there. But as Perkins warned, Smart would be wise staying in the good graces of the officials.
Check out Smart's exchange with the officials and Forsberg and Perkins' full reaction in the video player above.