An unhappy Carmelo Anthony was unsure of the severity of his entanglement with forward Thabo Sefolosha during Wednesday's 102-98 loss to the Atlanta Hawks.
The New York Knicks star was forced to hit the showers after 15 minutes of playing time through the second quarter after receiving a Flagrant 2 foul for a backhand fist into Sefolosha's face when battling for rebounding position in the offensive glass.
“I don't think it was anything Sefolosha was doing as far as being overly physical or anything like that. It was just a battle; we were both trying to go for it. Got tangled up,” Anthony told reporters. “He did his European and flopped a little bit.”
This was Anthony's second ejection of the season and a costly one with him getting off to a good start with 10 points and five rebounds. Sefolosha, known to be a rugged customer on the court, was assessed a technical foul after shoving Anthony on the chest following the play.
Sefolosha was vehemently positive the Flagrant 2 and consequent ejection were deserving.
“That was a fist right in my face,” the Swiss international said.
“It was more of getting him off of me,” Anthony told reporters. “It was more getting him off of me than swinging at him.”
Knicks head coach Jeff Hornacek sided with his star forward after getting another view at the play.
“I don't blame [Anthony] for what happened, honestly. If you watch the replay, you watch the action, the guy had his arms wrapped around his neck,” Hornacek told reporters after Knicks practice Thursday. “You know, it's like I want to sometimes go to the referee and wrap my arms around their neck and say, ‘What are you going to do? You just going to stand there?'
“You're going to get the guy off you. It's a natural reaction. You're not going to let a guy grab you around the neck. To me, that's more inadvertent. It's a reaction. If someone grabs you up there, you throw your hands up.”
Since Anthony's rookie season in 2003-04, only three players have been ejected more times than his 10: Matt Barnes (13), DeMarcus Cousins (11) and Richard Hamilton (11), according to ESPN Stats & Information.
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