Utah Jazz forward Jae Crowder showed an underrated aspect of his package as a player, showing the valiant teammate he is coming at the defense of point guard Ricky Rubio, who was hip-checked out of bounds by opposing point guard Jeff Teague.
Jeff Teague gets ejected after hip-checking Ricky Rubio. pic.twitter.com/z0ClZn1eya
— ESPN (@espn) March 3, 2018
Crowder was the first one to confront Teague, who would be soon ejected from the game with a Flagrant 2 foul.
“You stick up for your teammates. I want to be part of this family and being a part of it is sticking up for your brother and playing for one another,” said Crowder, who has only played in seven games with the team this season, according to Andy Larsen of KSL. “That's what I'm about, and that's what I bring. I hope someone would do it for me. I felt like it was a bad play.”
“I just felt it was a cheap shot. 100 percent. Never went for the ball, just shoved him. And the rest is history.”
Crowder was also ejected from the game, receiving his second technical foul later on.
“I just lost my cool a little bit. Disagreed with the call, forgot I had a tech, that's all.”
In a game of high-octane action and plenty of emotions, Crowder and the Jazz managed to stay on top, beating the formerly third-place-seeded Timberwolves 116-108 and collective his fifth win in seven games with the team.
The loss knocked the Wolves all the way to the sixth spot, with the Portland Trail Blazers benefitting from a five-game win streak to land them right behind the Golden State Warriors for third place.
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