Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins was ejected from Wednesday’s 106-84 blowout loss to the Boston Celtics after he picked up his second technical foul by throwing Celtics rookie Marcus Smart to the ground in the fourth quarter
Cousins and Smart both drew technical fouls in the scuffle, and Cousins was shown the door after he had already picked up one technical earlier in the contest for complaining to officials.
The mercurial Sacramento Kings big man regretted his actions, but was still steaming about Smart's role in the fracas after the game.
“I did have an issue,” said Cousins, via Chris Forsberg of ESPN Boston. “It didn’t start with the box out, it was the pick. He tried to run through my chest and then he came and I felt like he took a cheap shot on the box out, which resulted in what happened. Regardless, I got to make better decisions. The team depends on me every night and I just can’t do things like that.”
Smart was more defiant than apologetic about his role in things when asked about it after the game.
“To be honest, I’m not really worried about [being thrown to the ground],” said Smart. “He knows that I’m not going to back down from it. I don’t see why I got the tech though. I don’t know, they didn’t really tell me. It’s all good. Like I said, I’m one of those guys that’s not going to back down from anything. I’m going to let that be known.”
When told about Cousins' feelings about what he felt to be a dirty pick by Smart, the rookie added: “It was a box out. That’s his opinion. Everybody saw the play. Like I said, I’m not going to back down from anything. And if that’s what he thinks, that’s what he thinks. … I’m just playing defense.”
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