"Plain And Simple:" J.B. Bickerstaff Disagrees With Flagrant Foul Called On Jarrett Allen

Cleveland Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff disagrees with Jarrett Allen's Flagrant foul on Julius Randle.

The Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks didn't leave town without stirring up a little drama in the closing minutes of Game 2.

Julius Randle stole the ball on a weak pass on the defensive end and had a clear path to the rim. Jarrett Allen, being the player he is, sprinted back on defense and attempted to block the shot. The two big men collided in the air and both hit the ground hard with Randle immediately grabbing his back.

THIS RANDLE DUNK 😳

Jarrett Allen was called for a flagrant 1 pic.twitter.com/8Osbh6ayXR

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 19, 2023

New York's Isaiah Hartenstein walked up to JA to confront him about the hard foul. Thankfully, JA wore a mic for the game and the broadcast revealed he said it was a "hustle play," which it clearly was.

The officials took the play to review and determined that it met the criteria for a Flagrant 1. 

The biggest question is, why did Tom Thibodeau let one of his star players, who is already dealing with an injury, stay on the floor in the fourth quarter of a blow game? 

J.B. Bickerstaff completely disagreed with this ruling after the play and said, "It was a contest of a dunk. Why would one team play hard and one team not? It wasn’t a flagrant foul. Plain and simple.”

Obviously, New York felt it was a little much with the time and score of the game. However, this is the style of basketball that the Cavs have played all season and is the reason they're in the playoffs.

Cleveland didn't take plays off in the regular season, so they're not going to do that in the playoffs either. 

Even though Bickerstaff and Allen disagreed with the call, that won't stop the New York crowd from making JA their number-one enemy when the Cavs travel to Madison Square Garden for Game 3. 

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