Grant Williams: 'No malicious intent' behind hard foul on former Celtics teammate Jayson Tatum

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The Boston Celtics stayed cool while Charlotte Hornets mislaid theirs.

Grant Williams and Miles Bridges were ejected successful nan closing minutes of nan 4th fourth and LaMelo Ball was called for a flagrant-1 foul, allowing nan defending champion Celtics to propulsion distant precocious and triumph 124-109 connected Friday night.

Williams was ejected aft it was deemed he aggressively ran complete erstwhile teammate Jayson Tatum erstwhile they collided adjacent half court. Tatum appeared upset arsenic he sewage to his feet, but simply walked toward nan foul statement arsenic officials reviewed nan play.

Williams’ foul drew boos from a ample contingent of Celtics fans and could consequence successful a suspension from nan league.

“At review, we saw that he accelerated his velocity anterior to nan contact, and truthful he makes important interaction pinch nan dribbler,” referee James Williams told a excavation reporter. “The acceleration is considered wind-up, nan effect was significant, imaginable for injury, truthful this was wished to beryllium unnecessary and excessive, which gets america to a flagrant foul punishment 2. Again, by rule, that is an automatic ejection from nan game.”

Boston's Jaylen Brown appeared upset astir nan foul, yelling thing toward Williams and nan Hornets' bench.

Williams said location was “no malicious intent” and he was simply trying to make a play connected nan shot successful modulation erstwhile he collided pinch Tatum. He said he went to scope to sound nan shot distant arsenic Tatum was passing, which he said made nan play look worse than it was.

“J.T. is 1 of nan my closest friends successful nan league,” said Williams, who played pinch Tatum from 2019-23. “There was nary intentionally trying to harm him successful immoderate way. ... I don’t deliberation anybody believed it was malicious intent by immoderate intends because you don’t spot immoderate of those (Celtics) guys moving up to me.”

Tatum, who scored a game-high 32 points, declined to speak to nan media afterward.

Less than a infinitesimal aft Williams was ejected, Ball was assessed a flagrant foul for kicking his limb retired arsenic Tatum was shooting a 3-pointer. Officials ruled that Ball closed retired successful a “reckless nature" that could person injured Tatum. Ball fouled retired connected nan play.

In nan closing minute, Bridges was ejected aft he knocked nan shot into nan stands.

“We can’t fto our emotions get nan champion of us,” Bridges said.

Both coaches were assessed method fouls successful what Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla called a beingness game. He refused to spot immoderate blasted straight connected Williams.

“I'm gladsome that (Tatum) is fine,” Mazzulla said. “What I liked nan astir is that he jumped correct up and didn't laic around. It didn't faze him. He sewage correct up, went to nan free propulsion and did his business.”

Mazzulla said he liked nan poise his squad showed down nan stretch.

First-year Hornets coach Charles Lee, who was an adjunct to Mazzulla connected past season's title team, said nan crippled will beryllium a instruction for his players astir nan request to support their cool.

“We person to recognize nan value and nan affectional maturity it takes to triumph a adjacent crippled for illustration this,” Lee said. “We really conscionable want them to attraction connected what you tin control. All those things that are extracurricular of our grasp and extracurricular of our control, we’ve sewage to fto those distractions spell and attraction connected worldly that’s going to thief america build winning habits.”

The teams will play again Saturday nighttime successful Charlotte.

___

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba