The New Orleans Pelicans made an impressive 24 point recovery on Saturday afternoon to defeat the Boston Celtics in overtime, 120-115. Although the game’s ending was somewhat marred by relentless criticism, it was still a brilliant display of some of the league’s brightest young stars.
Unfortunately, the actual play on the court was not the only story of this. JJ Redick’s strange expulsion at the start of the fourth period is also drawing a lot of attention for all the wrong reasons.
In the first possession of the fourth quarter, Redick received a technical foul for complaining. Pretty standard stuff. It was the next descent where things got really weird. Redick tried to go for the basket and was knocked down by Celtics rookie Aaron Nesmith. He then spun the ball back to the referee, and immediately received a second technique and was sent off.
Redick couldn’t believe what was going on, and even the announcers were confused, suggesting that Redick must have said something to deserve the exit. However, it turned out that this was not the problem. The referee believes that Redick threw the ball too hard for him, saying after the game that the technique was issued to “throw the ball towards a strong official”.
Now, was it the smoothest move ever? Obviously not. Redick was still clearly frustrated and bet a little more on that than he probably should have. But was it something that deserved an ejection? Obviously not. The only reason he ended up hitting the referee in the leg is because he was not looking. If he was ready for the ball, he could easily catch it and there would be no problem.
The good news for Redick at least is that the Pelicans managed to win, so this incident did not end up costing his team. Still, it’s a pity that it’s hurting what was a fun game.