Despite grinding out the hard-fought double-overtime win over the Indiana Pacers, it wasn’t all smooth sailing for the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday.
During a timeout in the second overtime period, Cavs teammates Tristan Thompson and LeBron James began shouting at each other.
It’s not clear what exactly spawned the confrontation as it came immediately after a Kevin Love three-pointer to put Cleveland up by four with less than 30 seconds remaining. Thompson played 43 minutes in the game and finished with 12 points and nine rebounds, but he also missed two crucial free throws towards the end of the fourth quarter to help send the game into extra time.
Jason Lloyd of The Athletic suspects that the heated exchange had something to do with Thompson’s performance on the defensive end, and James said afterwards that he apologized to Thompson for showing him up, according to Daryl Ruiter of 92.3 The Fan.
Tristan REALLY pissed at LeBron coming off the floor. They've been barking at each other since George's 3. LeBron wasn't happy with TT's D
— Jason Lloyd (@JasonLloydNBA) April 3, 2017
LeBron said he apologized to Tristan Thompson for shouting match in 2nd OT, said he can't "show up" a teammate like that
— Daryl Ruiter (@RuiterWrongFAN) April 3, 2017
Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue also downplayed the incident in his post-game press conference, per FOX Sports Ohio.
Coach Lue downplays the argument that took place between @KingJames and @RealTristan13 in the heat of the @cavs' double-OT win. pic.twitter.com/9bHzR6xarz
— FOX Sports Ohio (@FOXSportsOH) April 3, 2017
On one hand, frustration may have just boiled over in the heat of a pivotal late-season game with Cleveland fighting to win back the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference from the Boston Celtics. But on the other hand, the team has already had to answer several questions about their recent struggles, and any perceived in-house friction obviously isn’t a great look.
Video via NBA Reddit
