Fans furious after JR Smith gets no reported punishment for dirty foul
The Boston Celtics throttled the Cleveland Cavaliers 107-94 Tuesday to take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference Finals.
And yet one of the bigger storylines coming out of Game 2 didn’t involve the victorious team or even LeBron James.
No, a big talking point involved mercurial Cavs shooting guard J.R. Smith and his late-game foul against Celtics center Al Horford.
The play in question came late in the fourth quarter with the game still up for grabs.
Marcus Smart had Al Horford's back. 😠 pic.twitter.com/Q18NctWeSD
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 16, 2018
Many, including the television announcers, were stunned that Smith wasn’t assessed a flagrant-2 foul. He was assessed a flagrant-1, which doesn’t include an automatic ejection.
Frankly, it was a dirty, bush league play. Horford could’ve been seriously injured.
Furious Celtics fans immediately began raining down “F— you, J.R.” chants.
And now, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting that the NBA will keep the foul a flagrant-1 and there is no expected discipline for Smith.
Naturally, this set off some very vocal fans, including Al Horford’s sister.
— Anna Horford (@AnnaHorford) May 16, 2018
Complete @NBA conspiracy to try and stretch this thing out and give lequeen a shot.
NBA worst nightmare is a ⭐️ less #Celtics team in #TheFinals #CUsRise @Big12Bam @coachbrmac
— David Utterback (@Utter1824) May 16, 2018
That a joke. That was a bush league by JR. Could’ve seriously hurt the guy. And he has a history of dirty plays
— Las Vegas Aces Fan Account (@jason_ucf) May 16, 2018
And perhaps that’s the most stunning part of it all. Smith does have a history of questionable plays. One of his most infamous moments happened in Boston, when he clocked then-Celtics forward Jae Crowder flush on the side of his head in a completely unnatural motion.
Of note, not every fan was miffed. Smith has been catatonic in the Eastern Conference Finals thus far. He scored 4 points in Game 1 and a whopping zero points in Game 2.
Naturally this led to quite a few people making the same joke about how the real punishment for the Cavaliers was the fact that Smith would play.
Pretty harsh penalty there against the Cavs, as this ruling practically forces them to put JR Smith on the court in Game 3
— Ben Conant (@BenConant603) May 16, 2018
So is J.R. Smith a dirty player? The evidence is mounting against him. After all, if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, it’s not a horse.
Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals will take place Saturday at Quicken Loans Arena.
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