Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge has backed guard Marcus Smart following the player’s ejection vs. the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday.
Smart was unable to suit up against the Charlotte Hornets last Wednesday after directing threatening language toward an official during a match against the Oklahoma City Thunder the previous night, having earned himself a suspension. He would also find himself booted from Sunday’s game against the Blazers after hitting Jusuf Nurkic in the groin during the fourth quarter of the loss.
Ainge doesn’t see a worrying pattern and isn’t in agreement with the latest ruling to stem from Smart’s recent actions.
“Listen, personally, I don’t think there was any evidence of Marcus doing it on purpose,” he said to 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Toucher & Rich (H/T NBC Sports Boston).
“It took (the officials) six minutes, like a jury debate, (to decide) whether he did or he didn’t. I don’t know how that whole process went down. I don’t think it was worthy of being ejected from a game. That’s just my opinion.
” … Marcus blows up screens as good as anybody. I’ve watched Marcus fight over screens all the time, and I don’t see any difference between that one and others that he’s tried to get over the top.”
