Guys were losing their cool all over the league Saturday night.
Coaches, players, winners, losers – it didn’t matter. Things got out of control in Utah, Minnesota and Indiana, and fines and suspensions should be coming.
Let’s start in Salt Lake City, where Lakers coach Mike Brown totally lost it in the fourth quarter of a 96-87 loss to the Jazz.
LA trailed, 72-68, and Pau Gasol had possession at the top of the circle. Utah guard Earl Watson came from his blind side and stole the ball – after crashing into Gasol and knocking him down. As Watson was throwing the ball ahead to Derrick Favors for a layup, Brown already was out on the floor, stomping his feet in protest of the non-call.
Referee Zach Zarba T’d up Brown, who just got hotter. Well out onto the court now, he stepped toward Zarba and appeared to bump the referee before being restrained by members of his staff and eventually leaving the court, spewing profanities.
From Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times: “Even the Lakers had never been this lost on the road. Coach Mike Brown appeared to bump a referee in disgust over a no-call early in the fourth quarter and was ejected. His replacement, assistant John Kuester, picked up a technical foul shortly thereafter. The technical difficulties were part of an epic meltdown in which the Lakers surrendered 14 consecutive points to the Utah Jazz on the way to an emotionally charged 96-87 loss Saturday night at EnergySolutions Arena. Brown was miffed after Utah guard Earl Watson mugged Lakers forward Pau Gasol on a steal that led to a dunk by Derrick Favors that gave the Jazz a 74-68 lead with 8 minutes 37 seconds left in the game. The Lakers coach then charged onto the court and appeared to make contact with referee Zach Zarba, earning two technical fouls and his first ejection of the season. “I thought [Watson] ran through him to get to the ball,” Brown said after watching a replay in the locker room.”
Kuester, who was an assistant under Brown in Cleveland and took a lot of abuse from players in Detroit last season, appeared to be targeted again after Brown’s departure. Matt Barnes, who has a reputation as somewhat of a loudmouth, started barking at Kuester and other coaches on the bench.
From Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com: “Kuester took over when Brown was ejected and coached the rest of the game and was also assessed a technical foul later in the quarter. Lakers forward Matt Barnes appeared to exchange heated words with the Lakers coaching staff after being subbed out of the game with 6:40 remaining. “I don’t want to talk about that,” Barnes said after the game.”
The Lakers had won their first two meetings with the Jazz, including an OT victory on Jan. 11 that had been their only road win until last week, when they broke through at Minnesota. But Saturday’s loss left them 3-8 on the road with games Monday at Philadelphia, Thursday at Boston, Friday at New York and a Sunday matinee at Toronto.
Also looking at a suspension is Timberwolves forward Kevin Love, who tried to explain away what looked like a very dirty play against Rockets forward Luis Scola, continuing some simmering bad blood between the teams.
Early in the third quarter of Minnesota’s 100-91 victory, Love appeared to foul Scola on a drive to the basket. No foul was called as Scola went down in the lane and play went to the other end. Love stepped on Scola’s head as he ran upcourt.
From Kent Youngblood and Jerry Zgoda of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune: “The big question afterward was: Was it intentional? And, will it be something NBA head of discipline Stu Jackson takes a look at? “He was kind of right there,” Love said. “I have size-19 feet. He just happened to be there. I had nowhere to go. I kind of tripped up. I just had nowhere to step. It was a heat-of-the-moment type play. He was there and it happened to be his face.” Love said he and Scola have a good relationship, and was sure Scola didn’t take it personally. “And obviously it was nothing personal against their team,” Love said. “… Nothing personal, just heat of the moment.” Should Love be suspended? “I just don’t care about the play, the game is over,” said Scola, who added that he didn’t know if the step was intentional or not. “I was just really surprised. … I’m talking about the play. I think he wanted to foul me, and I don’t know why the ref didn’t call it.”
Of course, not everyone saw it the way Love saw it.
From Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle: “Despite their best efforts, Kevin Love and the Timberwolves should have no chance of convincing the NBA it was just a Love tap. Love went Savion Glover on Luis Scola’s face. Love might be one of the league’s best young players, but the league presumably still frowns on players treating other players’ faces as starting blocks. Knowing he is in jeopardy of getting hit with a suspension – and this should be a no-brainer one-game suspension — Love did his best to spin the answer. In fact, he danced around it so well, he could have tap-danced on the head of a pin, which makes it difficult to buy his argument that he has feet so large, he just could not miss Scola’s face. He did, however, succeed at running up the floor while Scola’s head bounced around on the hardwood. The Wolves p.r. staff did their best to help the cause. They did not include any Rockets quote about Love stomping on Scola on the quote sheets delivered to the media.”
There is a nice little rivalry building between these teams. Rockets coach Kevin McHale used to be GM and coach of the Wolves and Wolves coach Rick Adelman used to be coach of the Rockets. Both left their previous jobs under unhappy circumstances, as McHale was removed by current Wolves GM David Kahn and Adelman left the Rockets after a falling out with owner Leslie Alexander.
On Monday, Adelman returned to Houston for the first time since leaving and discredited a portion of a Chronicle column which said the relationship between Adelman and Alexander broke down due to poor communication by the coach. Adelman was uncharacteristically animated during Minnesota’s 120-109 win.
That game also had an incident involving Love and Scola, who threw the ball into Love’s family jewels while trying to make an inbounds save. Neither player is a saint and both are competitive as hell. Maybe they just bring out the worst in each other.
And finally in Indianapolis, we give you the Orlando Magic, who nearly argued their way out of a victory over the Pacers. Both Dwight Howard and Hedo Turkoglu were hit with technical fouls after referees made calls – in their favor.
The game featured eight techs, five coming during an incident late in the third quarter when Magic forward Quentin Richardson shoved Pacers forward Danny Granger and Orlando’s Earl Clark and Indiana’s Tyler Hansbrough put their two cents in. Richardson wouldn’t let things go and was ejected for a second T.
Howard’s tech came with Orlando holding a 76-72 lead and 2:44 left as he was fouled by Roy Hibbert. Maybe he felt he was fouled too hard, or fouled twice, or whatever. But in a one-possession game, he just gave a point to the Pacers for no good reason.
Incredibly, Turkoglu did almost the exact same thing with 12 seconds to play and the Magic holding an 80-77 edge. He rebounded a potential tying 3-pointer by Granger, was fouled by David West and flung the ball the length of the court, drawing a T.
Granger made the free throw and Turkoglu split his, leaving the Pacers with another chance to tie, which they threw away in an eventual 85-81 loss. Turkoglu even tempted more fate seconds later, making an exaggerated show of handing the ball to the referee after calling a timeout.
From Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: “Turkoglu, apparently infuriated by West’s foul, threw the ball down the length of the court and into the stands. The indiscretion earned him a technical. “We did some dumb— things down the stretch,” coach Stan Van Gundy said afterward.”
It’s not the first time, either. Howard and Ryan Anderson had meltdowns in Orlando’s gag job vs. Boston last week. The Magic appear to be an easily unnerved bunch, which probably comes from their leader. Howard now has six, second to the nine collected by professional grumpmeister Kendrick Perkins.
Elsewhere …
- There was more rough-and-tumble play in Detroit’s otherwise meaningless 89-87 win over New Orleans. Greg Monroe accidentally elbowed teammate Brandon Knight, who left with a broken nose. And Pistons forward Jason Maxiell accidentally took out two Hornets, landing hard on Carl Landry’s extended knee and clobbering Jason Smith in the head. The guy looked like he was playing Rollerball.
- Jeremy Lin may have saved Mike D’Antoni’s job with career highs of 25 points and seven assists as the Knicks rallied to beat the Nets, 99-92. Cut by Golden State and Houston prior to the season, Lin showed an ability to run the pick-and-roll as he threw lobs and pocket passes, split defenders with step-through dribble drives and knocked down jumpers when defenders went underneath. The big question is, can he do it on a regular basis?
- The Spurs inside-outed the league-leading Thunder to death in a 107-96 victory. They made 12 3-pointers – three each by Richard Jefferson, Matt Bonner and rookie Kawhi Leonard – and Tony Parker turned on the jets for 42 points and nine dimes, passing Avery Johnson as the franchise’s all-time assists leader. San Antonio improved to a league-best 13-1 at home but won’t be there for three weeks as it leaves for its annual “Rodeo Road Trip,” a nine-game jaunt.
- The Sixers got back center Spencer Hawes and schooled the Hawks in Atlanta, 98-87. The bench scored 54 points, including 15 by rookie Nikola Vucevic, who showed nice post moves and drained a 3-pointer.
- The Clippers clobbered the woeful Wizards, 107-81, as they compensated for 6-of-17 free-throw shooting by draining 11-of-23 from the arc. LA began a six-game trek that includes stops in Orlando, Philadelphia and Dallas but no back-to-back games.
- Kyrie Irving had his second game-clinching layup in less than a week, providing the final points in Cleveland’s 91-88 victory over Dallas – its first over a winning team. The Mavs had a meltdown late, going the final 4:13 without a bucket for their third straight loss.
- Luol Deng returned and scored 21 points as the Bulls bombed the Bucks, 113-90, in Milwaukee. By the way, Derrick Rose had 26 points, 13 assists and zero turnovers. Stephen Jackson remained in coach Scott Skiles’ doghouse with another DNP-CD.
- Nic Batum had nine 3-pointers and 33 points in 25 minutes off the bench and Marcus Camby had his third 20-rebound game in the last seven as the Blazers cruised to a 117-97 win over the suddenly slumping Nuggets, who have lost four of five.
- Big numbers in Sacramento, too, as the Kings outlasted the Warriors, 114-106, in overtime. Marcus Thornton scored 28 points, Tyreke Evans had 26 and nine assists, DeMarcus Cousins had 21 and 20 boards and Jason Thompson had 15 and 16 rebounds.
- The Bobcats have dropped 11 in a row overall and on the road after a 95-89 loss to the Suns.