Marcus Smart described the Boston Celtics' argument after their Game 2 loss to the Miami Heat as "electrifying".

Smart reportedly exploded at his team-mates after the Celtics suffered a 106-101 loss to the Heat to fall 2-0 behind in the Eastern Conference finals last week.

Boston responded on Saturday, recording a 117-106 victory to cut Miami's series lead in half.

Smart said what happened in the Celtics' locker room was normal for a "family".

"Electrifying, what happened in the locker room," he told reporters on Monday.

"We're a family. Family fights all the time. I fight with my brothers all the time. But at the end of the day, we can fight with each other, nobody else can. You know, it happens between families, especially a family like ours who's been together for so long. It's going to happen.

"We've got a lot of guys who we've played with their feelings on their sleeves, play with their heart on their sleeves, play with their heart night in, night out, and we weren't supposed to be happy down 2-0, especially those two games that we gave up. We're playing a great Miami team and we can't have lapses like that.

"Of course emotions are going to fly, but like I said, we're a family and that happens."

The Celtics are aiming to reach the NBA Finals for the first time since 2010, and face Miami in Game 4 on Wednesday.

Smart said the incident in the locker room showed to him the love within the Celtics.

"I knew what type of guys we were. I knew what type of team we had. I knew we were emotional. I knew we were passionate, and I knew we all loved each other," he said.

"But I also learned a lot of – not just myself but a lot of my team-mates, we also grew up even more through that adversity.

"I've always been saying that before you see the rainbow it has to storm. For us that was a storm that we had to go through. We found our happy place. Like I said, families fight, but for us to be able to respond like we did and to be able to have that growth, it shows a lot."