NBA Says The Celtics Are Not Dirty

It's too bad the league can't take back the ejection as well:


"Glen Davis had his Flagrant 2 penalty from Friday’s win over Cleveland reduced to a Flagrant 1 foul by the league. He was ejected with nine minutes left in the third quarter for his hard hit on Anderson Varejao."


"I thought it was a nice hard play,” said Davis. “I’m not intentionally trying to hurt (anybody). It was kind of an awkward situation because I got there late and I thought I had my hand on the ball. It was kind of weird, but the refs called their call and I thought I did the right play. So I’ve got to live with it. Everybody knows I’m a nice guy. (I’m not) trying to hurt nobody.”





It should be noted here that Kendrick Perkins has also had two of his technical fouls taken back by the league. He now has 8 fewer techs than the league leader (Sheed) this season, and is also behind Stephen Jackson, James Posey, Melo, Amar'e and NBA posterboys Dwight Howard and Chauncey Billups. At 9, Perk is tied with (among others) Chris Bosh, Nate Robinson, Shaq, and........wait for it........Dwayne Wade. Not exactly tough company.


The message is clear. The officials need to keep themselves more in check and not allow their view to be biased by the reputation of the big, bad, dirty Celtics. This would be a MUCH bigger deal if the Cavs had won on Friday night.


Cheap Trick: Dream Police. Sick.





UPDATE:

For the record, and just so people don't think I'm overly-biased, I just want to state that I also don't think Trevor Ariza's foul on Rudy Fernandez last night was a dirty play. It was a flagrant foul for sure because he got him on the head area, but like Big Baby I think he was just trying to play the ball. Ariza is a high energy player, and this was a big matchup against another conference power. If he had made a clean block from behind, or if he had even just fouled him normally and prevented the field goal, we'd be praising his hustle. He was trying to do those things (in order of preference). It's a thin line.......



However, I am still a little slanted in my perspective, so I'm calling for Lamar Odom to be suspended for coming off the bench. If he's not, fans in Phoenix should be outraged.