CLEVELAND – LeBron James doesn't want to hear any badmouthing of teammate Matthew Dellavedova.
"This is my guy," James said on Sunday night. "This is my teammate and guys are trying to give him a bad rap. He doesn't deserve it and I don't like it."
Is Dellavedova, a reserve point guard, worthy of a "dirty player" reputation, particularly after his play led to the ejection of the Atlanta Hawks' Al Horford in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals? Horford led the charge in disagreeing with James, issuing some strong words after Atlanta's 114-111 overtime loss, saying Dellavedova now has a "track record" for trying to cause physical harm to opponents.
Horford and Dellavedova got tangled on the floor while scrambling for a loose ball in the second quarter with 34 seconds left. As Dellavedova fell back on Horford's right knee, Horford brought his right arm down hard to the side of the guard's head and shoulder. After a long deliberation by the referees, Horford got a flagrant 2 foul and was ejected. Dellavedova was given a technical for a "live-ball physical taunt technical foul" for rolling into Horford's knees.
"He's got to learn," Horford said. "He's only been in this league for a couple of years or whatever. But he's got to learn at the end of the day it's a big brotherhood here. Guys look out for each other. I don't think it was malicious, but he has to learn."
Referee Ken Mauer told a pool reporter that Horford was booted because he made "contact above the shoulders, to the shoulder and head area of Dellavedova."
Horford said he told the referee that Dellavedova went after his legs. Horford was ejected for only the second time in his nine-year career and has only two career flagrant fouls. He is considered one of the NBA's model citizens, but admitted he should have responded better in Game 3.
"I did think he went at me, but I should've handled it better," Horford said. "I shouldn't have got caught up in that. It's something I will learn from."
Dellavedova was on the defensive in a postgame interview with reporters, with James sitting firm at his side. Along with explaining what happened in Game 2, when a collision with shooting guard Kyle Korver resulted in the Hawk suffering an ankle injury, Dellavedova said, "I was boxing [Horford] out and he pulled my left arm down. I'm trying to stay and he's just pulling me down. The tape is there."
James appeared irritated at the line of questioning and let it be known that physical play has been part of this series, which the Cavs now lead 3-0.
"In Game 2 when [Pero] Antic two-hands shoves me off the air, the fact that I'm still playing we don't talk about it. He two-hand shoves me in the air. So what are we really talking about?"
The "track record" was the talking point in the Hawks' locker room. Horford referenced the Korver incident and the one involving the Chicago Bulls' Taj Gibson in the Eastern conference semifinals. Gibson was ejected after Dellavedova trapped his foot by clutching it with his legs after a scramble for a rebound. That led to a kick response from Gibson.
"Was it on purpose or not? We don't know," Horford said of Sunday's incident. "Maybe it wasn't on purpose. But just his track record, I just felt like it was. On my part, it was very poor for doing that."
Hawks forward Kent Bazemore said Dellavedova was "down on Al's knees, and it was retaliation."
"You can look at his track record and his history, a lot of things can be said," Bazemore said. "But at the end of the day, it really doesn't matter. We lost Al, and still had a game to play."
With James' triple-double and, yes, Dellavedova sparking them, the Cavaliers are now one game away from advancing to the NBA Finals.
"If they are focused on Delly," James said, "then they're focused on the wrong things."
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