[Updated] Could Tristan Thompson and Kevin Love be suspended for Game 2?
By Jason Patt
Tristan Thompson and Kevin Love could be in line for discipline for their actions at the end of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Game 1 loss in the NBA Finals.
Update (6/1 2:13 p.m.) — The NBA will not suspend Kevin Love for leaving the bench.
The Golden State Warriors’ 124-114 overtime victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 1 of the NBA Finals brought drama right up to the final buzzer. That drama could have an impact on Sunday’s Game 2 at Oracle Arena.
As the Warriors were running out the clock on their victory, Shaun Livingston launched a jumper in the final seconds before a 24-second violation could be called. Tristan Thompson took offense to Livingston’s field goal attempt and whacked the veteran guard across the chest.
Tony Brothers whistled Thompson for a Flagrant 2, which is an immediate ejection. That’s when tensions exploded.
While Thompson walked in the vicinity of Draymond Green, the Warriors’ brash forward began clapping and taunting Thompson. The two exchanged unpleasantries before Thompson pushed the ball into Green’s face, leading to a brief shoving match:
Meanwhile, Kevin Love, who was not in the game at the time, meandered a few steps out onto the floor during the ruckus before an assistant coach pulled him back:
Guys, Kevin Love (who was NOT in the game) was on the floor during the skirmish at the end while there was still time on the clock. Probably should be ignored but I don’t know if the league is allowed to overlook it pic.twitter.com/cXRNQ6PWKs
— BBALLBREAKDOWN (@bballbreakdown) June 1, 2018
Per NBA rules, a player on the bench who goes on the court during a skirmish earns a one-game suspension (remember Amar’e Stoudemire and Boris Diaw in 2007?), but Love isn’t too concerned about facing that kind of discipline. He explained that he “was already on the court trying to get the refs’ attention before the scuffle,” per ESPN’s Chris Haynes.
If you watch the sequence again, you see Love get up off the bench, motion with his arm, step onto the corner of the court and stand there as the play unfolds:
Love then took a few more steps and motioned again to an official before Thompson and Green went at it. Love probably should have gotten in trouble for going on the floor during game action and should face a fine, but a suspension would be egregious.
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Thompson could be in more danger. While Green initiated the trash-talking between the two, Thompson took it too far by giving Green a face full of basketball. That on top of the Flagrant 2 may be enough for the league to dock him a game.