2024-2025 NBA season

[Merkin]

It most certainly was. Flagrant 1 at worse.

[dovecanyoncat]

It was a cheap-ass punk-ass pissant move. But it was just a F1. I miss Bill even more now.

[84Cat]

It most certainly was. Flagrant 1 at worse.

[pc in NM]

It most certainly was. Flagrant 1 at worse.

Punching someone in the lower belly with sufficient force that they involuntarily double over isn't a flagrant 2?

I'm just glad that Indiana didn't miss Mathurin...

[84Cat]

Ben's hand was open, it wasn't a punch

[Chicat]

PC is just as soft as those refs.

[Merkin]

Basketball players have never been to known overreact have they?

Looked to me like a push in the sternum. That player gets hit harder going for a rebound.

[Chicat]

Basketball players have never been to known overreact have they?

Looked to me like a push in the sternum. That player gets hit harder going for a rebound.

PC wants Mathurin arrested for attempted murder.

[dovecanyoncat]

"It was either a vicious nipple twist or a cowardly attempt at the dreaded 5-point palm exploding heart technique!"

~ Bill Walton



Nonetheless: below the shoulder, so just an F1.

[pc in NM]

His foul caused a stir...

'Now this is just dirty': Charles Barkley weighs in on Bennedict Mathurin ejection vs Cavs

Evan Frank - Indianapolis Star

Inside the NBA weighed in on Bennedict Mathurin's ejection in Game 4 of the Indiana Pacers against the Cleveland Cavaliers on May 11.

Mathurin hit De'Andre Hunter in the sternum during the first quarter with a closed fist. Hunter pushed Mathurin with two hands, knocking him over. Myles Turner hurried over to shove Hunter. Mathurin was ejected after being assessed a Flagrant 2 foul. Hunter was given a technical foul.

During halftime, Charles Barkley and Jalen Rose weighed in on the play.

"Now this is just dirty," Barley said. "There's no place for that."

Rose didn't believe Mathurin should have been ejected.

"Normally, the second guy gets punished," Rose said. "In this case, the first guy actually did. I felt like since it wasn't a punch below the belt, I felt like Mathurin should have gotten a technical and still been allowed to stay in the game."

Barkley said Mathurin got "lucky."

"It was dirty, unnecessary, uncalled for," Barkley said. "The thing that really pissed me off ... if it had changed the momentum of the game. It would have been really bad. (Mathurin) is lucky they were blowing them out. Sometimes when you poke the bear, something happens and a team goes on runs. He got very lucky."

[Merkin]

The same Charles Barkley who was ejected 16 times during his NBA career?

Mathurin hit De'Andre Hunter in the sternum during the first quarter with a closed fist.

“I had a lot of questions about it,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “I saw one still shot where it looked he had his hand flat, you know? But they a lot of different views. Whatever happened, happened.

[Chicat]

It wasn’t a punch. And Barkley should shut the fuck up with all the bullshit he pulled on the court.

[pc in NM]

The same Charles Barkley who was ejected 16 times during his NBA career?

Mathurin hit De'Andre Hunter in the sternum during the first quarter with a closed fist.

“I had a lot of questions about it,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “I saw one still shot where it looked he had his hand flat, you know? But they a lot of different views. Whatever happened, happened.

I watched this live. It was one of, if not the, longest video reviews I've ever seen in a basketball game. The ref announced his foul by specifically saying "struck him in the chest with a fist".

When the call was made, I was as shocked as the Indiana crowd. The TV replays showed the shove, with barely a glimpse of the contact from behind. But, upon review I had to conclude the refs got it right.

[Chicat]

Soft as baby shit.

[Merkin]

Don't see a punch at all, especially not in the belly. That's his sternum. In any event, why wasn't the other player also ejected? That was most certainly more flagrant.