Blake Griffin ejected for flagrant-2 on Bulls’ Taj Gibson
Los Angeles Clippers star forward Blake Griffin was ejected from Thursday’s game against the Chicago Bulls after committing a flagrant foul-2 on Chicago forward Taj Gibson.
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Griffin committed the foul just past the midway point of the third quarter, with the Bulls leading by 14 points and Gibson looking to add to the lead on the interior:
After biting on Gibson’s pump-fake under the basket, Griffin found himself airborne and in a bad spot. On his way down, he appeared to try to swipe at the ball; instead, he swung his right forearm straight into Gibson’s face and forehead, snapping his neck back and sending him to the ground.
Griffin immediately went to check on Gibson and helped him up off the floor. Gibson appeared to say he was all right, and patted Griffin on the back of the head as he regained his feet. Despite all apparently being copacetic between the two big men, the referees went to the videotape and decided to slap Griffin with a flagrant-2 for “unnecessary and excessive” conduct, prompting his second ejection of the season.
Griffin clearly did not agree with the decision to give him the gate, and you can kind of understand why:
FWIW, I thought Griffin was just going for the big block and his near decapitation of Taj Gibson was unintentional.
— Bradford Doolittle (@bbdoolittle) December 11, 2015
Then again, when you’re talking about windmilling into someone’s head, intent only matters so much.
It doesn’t matter if Griffin did or did not do it intentionally. When you wind up and make contact to the head, it’s pretty easy to call.
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) December 11, 2015
Griffin finished with a team-high 18 points on 7-for-14 shooting with 11 rebounds, two assists and two blocks in just under 25 minutes of work. His early exit removed L.A.’s top offensive option on a night where hardly anybody in a Clippers uniform can buy a bucket, making the job of mounting a comeback against the Bulls all the tougher.
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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