Tristan Thompson may be facing disciplinary action from the NBA for the scuffle he was involved in late in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, but Kevin Love is confident the same will not be true for him.
Thompson was ejected with 2.6 seconds remaining in the game when he threw an elbow into Warriors guard Shaun Livingston, who was attempting a meaningless jump-shot. As Thompson was leaving the court, he shoved Draymond Green and a scrum broke out.
Draymond Green: "YOU CHEATED ON YOUR GIRL WHILE SHE WAS PREGNANT "
Tristan Thompson: pic.twitter.com/EiFDELvwJc
— Jeff Eisenband (@JeffEisenband) June 1, 2018
During that shoving match, Love was seen walking onto the court. Leaving the bench area during a fight is supposed to trigger an automatic suspension in the NBA, but Love insists he was already on the court trying to get the officials’ attention before the scuffle began. This video seems to support his claim:
Kevin Love told me he left the bench in OT to argue the call on Tristan, walking onto the court to get in the officials' eyeline, not in reaction to any scuffle & before it even broke out. Video (via @bballbreakdown) seems to back this up; not sure if it will matter to the league pic.twitter.com/JeHmd6Fl2p
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) June 1, 2018
As soon as Thompson threw the first shove, Love turned around and headed back to the bench area. He shouldn’t have been on the court in the first place, but walking out to get a referee’s attention doesn’t result in an automatic suspension like walking out during a fight does.
Thompson should probably be more worried about being suspended than Love. The Cavaliers big man had already been ejected before he took part in the extracurricular activities, so the NBA will have to determine if he left the court in a timely fashion. Plus, his explanation for why he was so upset may not hold a lot of weight.
