Even if his team came out with an easy victory against the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night, Houston Rockets star guard James Harden was still not happy.
The Beard called out the Mavs for playing dirty, especially after he he hit the floor hard on a screen from Andrew Bogut in the second quarter. The Australian international received a flagrant foul as the referees saw that there was unnecessary contact.
Harden described the Mavs players and coaches as unprofessional and did not understand why they had to play in that manner.
“That other team was trippin’ tonight, just disrespectful, unprofessional, players and coaches. I don’t know what was their problem, but I think that got us going. They wanted to throw a little cheap shot and just woke us up a little bit and it was over from there.”
Bogut also spoke about the play during a postgame interview and defended his actions. He said he has always set hard screens throughout his career and that he doesn't understand why he was called for a flagrant foul on the one he made on Harden.
“If you watch the replay, yeah, he made no effort to run around my screen. Yeah, it was a hard screen and I set hard screens. But to get a flagrant for it is kind of head-scratching.”
The final score may not reflect how the game was contested. It was certainly tense and physical, with a total of seven technical fouls called and one ejection. Trevor Ariza even went to the Mavs' locker room to confront Salah Mejri after the game.
This matchup was already the fourth and final meeting between the two squads this season, but it will still be interesting to see if their beef carries over to next year as the Texas rivals will once again square-off at least two times in the regular season.
Follow Us
Subscribe