The Boston Celtics turned on the jets down the stretch in Game 2 against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Celtics just looked like they were playing harder in the fourth quarter, while the Cavs looked lethargic and frustrated. Those frustrations boiled over during one sequence that saw J.R. Smith shove Al Horford, much to the chagrin of Marcus Smart.
Late in the fourth quarter, Smart tossed up a lob to Horford, who looked like he was going to have an easy dunk. Instead, Smith prevented the jam from happening by shoving Horford into the crowd, which led to Smart coming over and trying to start things with Cleveland’s veteran guard.
Jr Smith shoves Al Horford in the air, Marcus Smart ain't havin' it pic.twitter.com/WBHEgqATjj
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) May 16, 2018
It seemed like Smith was heading for a flagrant two for a dangerous act that could have injured Horford, but instead, all he got was a flagrant one. Technical fouls were also assessed to Smith and Smart for their confrontation. Celtics fans, meanwhile, decided to hit Smith with a rather NSFW chant.
"Fuck you, JR" chant in the Garden pic.twitter.com/3tX8Ihb0u7
— Gifdsports (@gifdsports) May 16, 2018
Smith had an absolutely brutal game — zero points on 0-for-7 shooting in 27 minutes in what ended up being a loss to knock the Cavs down 0-2 in the series. But still, there isn’t much that you can say to justify something like this. It’s really dangerous, and fortunately, Horford didn’t get hurt as he hit the deck.
