Almost everyone not cheering for the Portland Trail Blazers Sunday night was left in disbelief when Oklahoma City Thunder forward Carmelo Anthony was thrown out of the game after picking up a flagrant 2 foul in the third quarter.
Many wanted an explanation and before the entire west coast hit the sack, the NBA released one, which it hopes would justify the call of the officials.
Mike Richman of The Oregonian shares the text of the NBA’s attempt at clarifying matters:
Here’s the explanation of Carmelo Anthony’s ejection pic.twitter.com/T8ZdAkYltq
— Mike Richman (@mikegrich) November 6, 2017
In the said play, Carmelo Anthony shook off a primary defender and bolted out for a baseline drive before colliding with Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic midair. Nurkic’s presence forced Anthony to get a little creative to get off his shot but in the process hit Nurkic’s face with his left elbow. The Blazers center was called for a foul but upon review, the Thunder star was later assessed a flagrant 2 foul.
Anthony isn’t known as a dirty player but we know the Thunder forward can make double-clutch layups, which has been a part of his offensive arsenal ever since we started watching him play basketball in Syracuse, so we can’t blame plenty of people from reacting as though the flagrant 2 foul call was unnecessary.
Carmelo Anthony can’t reverse what happened and the fact that the Thunder lost in that game, 103-99, certainly has left a very bitter taste in the mouths of the Thunder.
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