After receiving criticism for scoring a bucket at the tail-end of a 131-108 win against the Toronto Raptors, Cleveland Cavs veteran forward Tristan Thompson responded to Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic. After the game, Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson couldn’t explain Thompson’s final bucket with four seconds left. However, Tristan explained himself the following day.
Thompson responded to Rajakovic’s postgame comments on his X, formerly Twitter.
“You wanna full court press with under a minute left in the game when you get cracked by 30 this will happen to you,” Thompson said. “Lose for draft lottery and be happy buddy boy. Hopefully you and most of your guys see the light at the end of Bobby and Masai long term plan. Bless up stay warm in MY CITY.”
Rajakovic accused Thompson of dunking the ball with four seconds left while most of the Raptors defenders were in the act of shaking hands with the Cavs as unclassy and disrespectful.
“I think what Tristan did there was no class and disrespectful,” Rajakovic said. “I’m not going to stand for that, for sure. I love when my team stands up for themselves. That was no class.”
Cavs’ Tristan Thompson, who walked passed the Raptors bench on his way to the locker room returned to the floor to confront Raptors players after words were exchanged. He needed to be held back as Scottie Barnes was in his face in front of his teammates.
Cavs’ Kenny Atkinson tries to explain Tristan Thompson’s actions
John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson attempted to defend Tristan Thompson for his final field goal that extended their win to a 23-point victory. Thompson dunked the ball as a retaliation for the Raptors’ defense going into a full-court press in the final minutes of the game.
Thompson checked in with roughly four minutes left in the fourth quarter. Still, Atkinson wasn’t quite sure what compelled his veteran forward to score in the winding seconds of the game but didn’t think Thompson did it as a sign of disrespect.
“I’m not sure what he was thinking,” Atkinson said. “Sometimes, though, you’re playing the game, and you just have a reaction. I know with Tristan, there’s no bad intention there. I think just sometimes you’re playing, and the goal of the game is to score. Unfortunate.”
The Cavs enter the All-Star break with an NBA’s best 44-10 record. They’re on a four-game winning streak and have won eight of their last nine games.
