Looks like a punch if you get in closer, not a hard punch but still a punch to the ribs.
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Looks like a punch if you get in closer, not a hard punch but still a punch to the ribs.
They had a slow motion version on Reddit and the announcers came back after commercial and said they could tell it was a closed fist during replays. BM also gave him a cheapshot to his arm during the play right before this. I'm guessing that didn't help his case. It wasn't entirely out of the ordinary but off the ball on an in bounds play it was a stretch.
It didn't look all that hard initially. But it is elite level athletes, I'm guessing even that little snap punch would leave a mark. Teams sure don't seem to like the Pacers, wondering how much talking they do as a team.
The refs were idiots too. Mathurin’s “punch” didn’t happen during a dead ball. The ball was still live and he did that act of extension as a way to get separation during the play.
It was dirty by Mathurin but no way should it have been a Flagrant 2
Personally, I don't see that as a punch. Looks like he touched him and then he pushed off to create space. Maybe his hand was closed, but I don't see that making it worse in this case. The reaction is the only reason people are acting like it was a punch. Looks like a flop. I thought at first he must of hit him in the balls based on that reaction.
Maybe he flicked him with his finger or something. The reaction doesn't seem to match the action by BM.
Idk. If anything he tapped with his fist and pushed off.
It was a **** move. He deserved an F1. But it wasn’t in the face or groin.
My 8 year old and I exchange fist bumps that are more ferocious than that.
Yes, closed fist. So it meets the NBA definition for an ejection. It's also true that there is zero wind up and he must have learned from Bruce Lee's one inch punch if that was enough to double Hunter over lol. Hunter was absolutely selling it.
I don't have an issue with Mathurin's ejection in a vacuum. I just don't think there is a universe where you could justify ejecting one and not the other. It was terrible, especially adding in the tech for Turner on top of that.
If he had only shoved him rather than punched he wouldn’t have been ejected either. The Pacer that came over and shoved Hunter also only got a tech.
Okay, I get you're dying on this hill. What I'm saying is that the two handed shove in the chest is certainly equal to the weak ass punch. If you're going to toss one, you need to toss both.
The outcome of that scenario what offsetting techs on Turner/Hunter and the Mathurin ejected, so Cavs got two free throws, the ball and Indiana's best bench player out of the game. It didnt matter in the game, but for that sequence of events the outcome certainly wasnt not equivalent to what occurred.
They're completely different, I don't know why you'd have to treat them the same. I could see a world where they throw out Mathurin and Hunter and I wouldn't have an issue with that, but they're not the same so I don't see it as automatic. In your opinion you're saying they should have thrown out Mathurin, Hunter and Turner?
Absolutely not. If you think Hunter and Turner's actions were equal, then I don't know what we're talking about. Mathurin got hit with a flagrant 2, the definition of that by the NBA is "Flagrant Foul Penalty 2: Unnecessary and excessive contact committed by a player against an opponent". Mathurin closing the fist made the ruling for the refs, but Hunter's reaction fits the flagrant 2 definition every bit as well.
But who cares at this point. We're talking in circles.
MJ and the music might do a lot to bring back some lost MJ/Kobe era fans, more than it rationally should.
What would help the most is national TV slots going to the best young star players regardless of their market. Players like Giannis, Jokic and now even SGA should not have been relegated to exclusively regional TV in the regular season (and even playoffs) for the CRIME of not being a Knick or Laker. ESPN/ABC as the Official Knicks Network has done a lot of damage to the league given the past two years are the only time in a quarter century they haven't totally sucked, the tv strategy has basically been to highlight the worst franchise in sports.
Is there a reason they don't have more flexibility in which games get aired? College football is scheduled 1-2 weeks out and everyone makes it work. You're telling me the NBA can't tweak which game gets featured on TV over the course of a 5 month season without everything falling apart? I'm not saying to change game days or maybe even the times. There were several nights when TNT had a midseason trash game and the headliner couldn't be found. I suppose it probably comes back to who owns what rights and wanting people to buy the specialty TV packages.
ESPN breaks down possible landing spots and what those teams can offer. Houston and Detroit would be really exciting, good teams but wouldn't be a super team/ring chase.
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/45113195/giannis-trade-tiers-every-nba-team-offer-bucks
Anyone who still thinks the NBA Draft lottery isn't rigged... lol
Mavericks trade away Doncic for nearly nothing, then go on to win the draft lottery with one of the lowest odds ever? Bull****.
(Not that I really care one way or the other, I'm just calling out the bull**** playing out in front of me)
Mavericks trade away Doncic for nearly nothing, then go on to win the draft lottery with one of the lowest odds ever? Bull****.
(Not that I really care one way or the other, I'm just calling out the bull**** playing out in front of me)
