Review (Crew): if Smith committed a flagrant foul in Q3 of #ATLatCLE. Ruling: Flagrant 1 on Smith. https://t.co/sBlYUEMasx
— NBA Official (@NBAOfficial) May 3, 2016
This wouldn’t be noteworthy if most any other player in basketball was the offender. But J.R. Smith, you surely remember, has a long history of doling out elbows, shoves, and flailing slaps to opponents.
Caught in a mismatch during the early third quarter of Monday’s game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks, Smith was trying his best to keep the bigger Paul Millsap from establishing deep position on the block – and that’s when he did what he’s done so many times before.
Officials reviewed the play because the contact between Smith and Millsap came above the shoulders, ultimately awarding the Cavaliers guard a flagrant-1 foul. Did Smith’s reputation have anything to do with that decision? The referees would almost certainly never admit it, but the clear unintentional means of his elbow to Millsap pretty much says it all.
Also: Millsap missed both free throws that followed. Ball don’t lie?
