Celtics' Paul Pierce head-butts Heats' James Jones: NBA News
The Boston Celtics’ captain Paul Pierce lost his nerves against the Miami Heat in their second round play-offs’ match-up on Sunday night at the American Airlines Arena, in Miami. The heated contest between these two teams have already flared up the hidden aggression to out-do each other in these semi-finals.
The Boston Celtics’ Pierce was ejected from the American Airlines Arena and sent to the locker room late in the fourth quarter. The decision came from the referee, Ed Malloy, when he ejected Paul Pierce on his second technical foul. Pierce already committed a technical foul in that particular game and this second one resulted in an automatic ejection from the court.
The first incident involved Miami’s James Jones when he came very close to Paul Pierce in an attempt to block a shot in the fourth quarter. Pierce head-butted in anger and smashed his face to Jones, whiles both players earned a technical foul by the referee. Some 59 seconds later the Miami’s sunshine Dwyane Wade and Paul Pierce appeared saying swear words to each-other after a collision. Referee saw and called a double technical and ended Paul’s night in despair.
NBA’s Crew Chief Dan Crawford also backed the referee Malloy’s decision when he said, “It's what we call a verbal taunt, and He directed profanity towards Wade. And in the rulebook, that is a verbal taunt. And it just so happened to be Pierce's second technical foul.”
The Miami Heat went on to outclass the Boston Celtics 99-90 and took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven of the second round of semi-finals. The Game 1 truly proved vital for Miami’s Wade as he able to score 38 points.
Paul Pierce also realised his disturbing actions and stated to the reporters on Monday at University of Miami regarding his automatic ejection from the game.
Paul said, “I was more disappointed in letting my teammates down, that’s the first thing I said when I went to the locker room. When you put yourself in a situation that you can control and it hurts your team, that's what I was most upset about, and I can't do that. I'm too important to this team to be putting myself in those situations. I probably overreacted; I thought I was fouled excessively on both plays actually. I thought there should have been a flagrant on both [Jones and Wade], but it's up to me to keep my composure.”
The Game 1 is over in Miami’s favour, but the next game is waiting for both the NBA giants for yet another battle. The second round series has unfolded now, and the Game 2 is scheduled in Miami at American Airlines Arena on Tuesday night.
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