Charlotte Bobcats didn’t think Josh McRoberts elbow was malicious
By Josh Hill
One of the big story lines to follow as the Heat and Bobcats prepare to play Game 3 of their series revolves around the elbow that Josh McRoberts threw to the throat of LeBron James on Wednesday night. The result of the play was a $25,000 fine for McRoberts but the Heat wanted more.
For Charlotte, while head coach Steve Clifford didn’t dismiss the incident, he did say that his belief is that McRoberts intent was not malicious.
Steve Clifford said he had no concern Josh McRoberts would be suspended because the foul wasn't "malicious."
— Rick Bonnell (@rick_bonnell) April 25, 2014
Needless to say, the NBA didn’t agree with Clifford’s assessment of the situation and gave McRoberts 25,000 reasons to be sorry about what he did. But while the league is making McRoberts pay in a literal sense, the Heat will make not only him but the Bobcats as a whole pay on the court in Game 3.
It’s not that the hit just all of a sudden made the series more interesting, but it does mean Miami has even more incentive to beat the Bobcats than they already did.