The story behind the Heat’s Duncan Robinson trolling Celtics fans during Game 7 in Boston

If your cellphone number is included in a group text that you want no part of, the usual reaction is to ask to be removed.

Duncan Robinson had a different plan.

And his irritation triggered an amusing moment that Celtics fans won’t soon forget.

After his layup put the Heat ahead 94-73 in the fourth quarter of the Heat’s Game 7 win in Boston on Monday, Robinson cupped his ear — borrowing a move from Hulk Hogan — as if to say: “I can’t hear you.”

He explained on JJ Redick’s podcast, The Old Man And The Three, what led to that moment:

“I still have the same number from when I was in high school. My number got put in a group chat somewhere and it was like a massive group chat. So after we lose Game 6, my phone is blowing up from all these random New England numbers like, ‘Celtics in 7.’ They’re sending me memes of Curt Schilling’s bloody sock. It’s just all these random numbers, like 70 texts.

“I’m like, ‘What is going on?’ I’m also [upset] because I’m on the heels of this bone-crushing loss [in Game 6]. Not to mention, I missed some shots down the stretch that I would like to have back. So I’m… really worked up about it.

“I’m like, ‘Who the [expletive] gave out my number? How the [expletive] did this happen?’ So then I start thinking, I’m like creating all these scenarios in my head. If I get the chance and go into the Garden, I’m going to do something, and I didn’t know what it was going to be. Honestly, probably a little underwhelming. But you would be shocked at how many people that really bothered.”

Robinson — who attended high school and part of college in Massachusetts before moving on to the University of Michigan — admitted that his gesture created “a little bit of internal conflict because it’s like you’re playing on the floor that you grew up being fortunate enough to go to some games on and grew up in Celtics country. So you have the idea you want to do it, but I have to be relevant enough in the game to warrant that.

“I really toed the line on that, because ideally you score like 20-plus and then you’re doing it, you have a little more validity.”

He said he didn’t envision cupping his ear after “a back-cut layup. Definitely envisioned maybe more of like a dagger three to push it to 11 with like three minutes left.”

Robinson scored 10 points in 20 minutes of Game 7, on 4-of-6 shooting, and averaged 11.4 points in the series while hitting 15 of 31 three-pointers.

“Just the opportunity to be playing against the Celtics for a chance to go to the Finals, growing up in the area,” was meaningful, he told Redick.

“All my friends grew up as Celtics fans, growing up going to Celtics games. To be on that floor for an opportunity to advance to the Finals, that alone was really, really special. And then you tie in also just kind of what really the last calendar year has been for me, which there have been a lot of struggles personally — career-wise, basketball-wise. Different forms of adversity being in and out of the lineup, dealing with injuries for the first time in my career.

“Going through long stretches where naturally you kind of doubt and you start to question your ability. It was cool to go through this stretch against this team and then end it on that floor just with the recent history of everything.”

Robinson put the Heat’s improbable playoff run into perspective:

“We all knew that we were capable of this and still feel that we are. I think what makes it kind of like the crazy, surreal run is the context of where we were at so recently. You look back to losing at home against Atlanta in not a very close game, quite frankly. And then just coming down to the wire against Chicago, just being on the ropes against those guys and finding a way to win.

“But I think what you’ve really seen is just kind of our best version starting to come together at the right time, which you obviously can’t always control. Some of that is, I don’t want to say luck, but just pieces coming together.

“But I think the other biggest thing is people are at this stage of the season, it’s so much easier to kind of be pure towards giving into the team because everything else is just not really as important. It just becomes about the bottom line of just trying to win. I think that simplifies it a lot.”

Robinson also said the benefit of the Heat adding Kevin Love in the buyout market extended beyond his on-court contributions.

“I said this to him the other night on the plane and I don’t want to put him on blast or anything,” he said. “But I think Kevin coming, I think he totally changed the whole dynamic of our locker room. Just his character, his levity, what he brought in terms of just connecting people, having a sense of humor.

“When you have a guy who’s played in four NBA Finals, won a championship, gets pulled from a rotation in the middle of a series and his immediate reaction is uplifting the guy that’s replacing him. That alone sets the tone down the line for everybody else. It’s stuff like that that I think just doesn’t get recognized and talked about enough.”