Frustrations boiled over for the New York Knicks on Thursday as they were en route to their sixth consecutive loss, and forward Quincy Acy wound up getting ejected in the fourth quarter.
As John Wall was dribbling up the court with roughly five minutes remaining, Acy stepped up to stop the ball and blatantly shoved Wall, who was understandably upset. Wall retaliated and Acy appeared to throw a punch, though he denied it after the game.
“I didn’t throw a punch,” Acy said. “I got up and reacted, then I just grabbed him.”
Even if that wasn’t a punch, it was close enough for the officials to assess a flagrant 2 foul and toss Acy from the game. Wall was just given a technical foul.
“I was just running down the court. Usually I think I just get a regular foul [from defenders] but I could tell [by] like how he charged [that it was going to be a physical foul],” Wall explained. “When I fell, I kind of was frustrated, but I didn’t try to retaliate in the wrong way to get ejected or anything.”
The Knicks went on to suffer their 16th loss in their last 17 games. I’m sure the team’s struggles had as much to do with Acy’s temper tantrum as they did with Carmelo Anthony’s comments after the game.
