On Wednesday morning, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Cleveland Cavaliers guard J.R. Smith would not be disciplined for his flagrant foul on Boston Celtics center Al Horford late in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
The play in question came with 3:49 left in the fourth quarter and the Celtics leading the Cavs 89-97. On the previous play, guard Marcus Smart perfectly defended Smith and forced him into a bad shot that ignited the Boston crowd.
Smart then ran a play on the offensive end which nearly ended up with an alley-oop dunk by Horford. That is, until a frustrated Smith blatantly (and dangerously) pushed Horford in the back as he was about to catch the ball in mid-air, sending him flying towards the basket stanchion and camera crew. Smart, who had the perfect angle to see Smith’s shove on Horford, immediately came to his teammate’s defense and a scrum between both teams ensued.
Horford was not injured, and Smith was assessed a flagrant foul penalty one, although many people fully expected him to be ejected from the game due to the dangerous nature of his foul. The flagrant was the cherry on top of an absolutely dreadful night for Smith, who finished with no points on 0-of-7 shooting from the field.
For the series, Smith is now a combined 2-of-16 from the field and 0-7 from beyond the arc for four points in 56 combined minutes of play.
Smith has not been handed down a punishment which means he’ll be available to play in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals, which resumes on Saturday night in Quicken Loans Arena. The Cavs and their fans are hoping that, back home, Smith will be able to get something, anything, going offensively for their team.
