Ray Allen and J.J. Barea get heated on the court
For someone who made a living on the three-point line and mostly away from the paint, Ray Allen did something unusual on Monday against the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Miami Heat guard lost his cool while driving for a layup.
What started it all from the replay seemed to be Allen pushing off with his left arm to create space from J.J. Barea. Then as Allen was turning around the corner to drive to the basket, Barea knocked him down with a bump.
“He pushed off, hit me with an elbow close to the neck,” said Barea. “Then I gave him a bump back. I’ve been playing in the NBA for seven years. I get hit harder than that every night. I don’t get up crying. I want to fight.”
Allen saw things differently.
“There was a play where he knocked the ball away and I got it back,” Allen said. “Then he just leveled me. I thought it was uncalled for. There is no place for that in the game.”
Allen immediately jumped up after the foul, but Dwayne Wade quickly stepped in between the two as officials were getting the situation under control.
“We are playing for something big and we don’t need to lose someone for a call over a play like that,” Wade said. “We were able to break it up.”
Barea was ejected with a flagrant-2 foul and had some “choice words” for Allen as he left the court. Minnesota coach Rick Adelman received a technical for arguing with officials. Both contributed to three free throws being awarded to the Heat. Allen made all three attempts.
“We always ask the league. They will probably say that they blew it,” said Adelman. “That’s probably what is going to happen. At least come over and explain it. He (lead official, Ed Malloy) just came over and said ‘you’re gone.’ There is no explanation. Nothing. It was a really contested game and it did change the whole momentum of the game. That’s what happened. But, again, we didn’t shoot the ball well. We shot 37 percent, 25 percent from 3 and 66 percent from the line against the world champions. That’s probably not going to do it.”
Heat players were shocked after the game. In Allen’s 17-year career, he has never gotten into any serious altercation.
“I didn’t know what was going on,” forward Udonis Haslem said. “A guy like Ray gets upset, you don’t know what might happen. I was a little nervous. I was worried about Barea.”
With the ejection and just a little over eight minutes left to play, the Heat made a 16-5 run to seal the game. They were up by six points prior the fouls being issued.
The Heat won 97-81, and has now won a franchise-record 15 wins in a row.
