During the second half of game 4 between the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday afternoon, Kelly Olynyk and Kevin Love got tangled up, and Love dislocated his shoulder, an injury that Kevin Love believes was done on purpose.
Olynyk refuted this claim, calling the notion that he would injure Love on purpose “ridiculous.”
From that point on, the game was extremely physical. First, Kendrick Perkins shoved Jae Crowder to the ground and threw a poke at the side of his face, and then J.R. Smith threw a hard elbow into Crowder’s face, which resulted in him falling badly and spraining his knee.
According to Cedric Maxwell, a Celtics’ color commentator, Cleveland’s violence was planned, and was an act of revenge. Per the Twitter page of Joe Giza:
Cedric Maxwell on Sports Final last night said Cavs players told him at halftime they were going to get back at #celtics for Love injury
— Joe Giza (@JoeGiza) April 27, 2015
This report is hard to believe, as it seems incredibly moronic of players on the Cavs to tell a member of the opposing team’s media that they were going to get revenge. However, the evidence backs it up. The plays by Perkins and Smith both seemed intentional and completely uncalled for. Perkins was in the game for less than a minute before his foul. If these fouls were committed on purpose, it’s a shame, and the fouls showed a complete lack of sportsmanship and class.
Smith will almost certainly face suspension for his actions, especially given the fact that this is not his first offense. Perkins may face suspension as well.
