Cleveland Cavaliers swingman J.R. Smith was ejected on Sunday after he hit Boston Celtics forward Jae Crowder in the face.
Smith and Crowder were tussling for position after a missed free throw in the third quarter, and Smith swung his arm and nailed Crowder directly across the face. Crowder injured his knee while falling to the ground and had to leave the game.
The officials felt that Smith intentionally nailed Crowder, and you can understand why. Shortly before that, Crowder got into it with Kendrick Perkins after Perkins set a blatantly illegal screen on him.
If you ask me, the plays from both Perkins and Crowder were uncalled for. The Cavs were on their way to sweeping the Celtics at the time of the infractions, but Smith and Perkins will both be in danger of being suspended for at least the first game of the next series.
To make matters worse, Kevin Love left early in the game with a shoulder injury. This isn’t the way the Cavs wanted to finish the job against Boston.
