Temper, temper: Ejections to Grant Williams, Miles Bridges mar Hornets’ loss to Boston
LaMelo Ball admits it, understanding the viral footage tells the entire story.
“I didn’t even know,” the Charlotte Hornets star guard said Friday. “It didn’t even really feel like Halloween, so I didn’t know. They got me. They got me.”
Ball can chuckle about it now, laughing at getting caught off guard when he strolled past a giant clown 24 hours earlier — a moment that nearly left him hyperventilating. That frightening sequence might’ve been an appropriate precursor for Ball given the scary proposition the Hornets had in front of them: home games on consecutive nights against the Boston Celtics and their two-headed monster of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
Round 1 went to the defending champs.
Tempers flared up at the end of the Hornets’ 124-109 loss to the Celtics at Spectrum Center on Friday night, with Grant Williams and Miles Bridges each getting tossed in the final minutes, marring the conclusion of a wildly entertaining game.
Charlotte unraveled in the fourth quarter, becoming a bit undisciplined in the waning seconds. The Hornets didn’t keep their cool when the Celtics pulled away, leading to a flurry of emotions ramping up — headlined by Williams NHL-style body check of Tatum late in the fourth quarter.
“Tonight was another great learning experience, growth opportunity for us to realize the importance and the emotional maturity it takes to win a close game like this,” coach Charles Lee said. “These guys, they work so hard and they’re out there competing their butts off, yelling out different coverages, communicating, being together. We really just want them to focus on that.
“Focus on what you can control. All those things that are outside of our grasp and outside of our control, we’ve got to let those distractions go and focus on stuff that’s going to help us build winning habits.”
That was an element Williams is supposed to bring to the Hornets in his first full season with his hometown team. But the Celtics showed the Hornets — who added to their lengthy injury list when Nick Richards suffered a sore shoulder in the second quarter and sat out the second half, joining Brandon Miller (glute) and Mark Williams (foot) on the sideline — how it’s done.
What’s the best way to correct that?
“Not let our emotions get the best of us,” said Bridges, who was assessed an unsportsmanlike technical foul for knocking the ball into the stands/bench area with force. We’ve just got to control what we can control.”
Grant Williams had his own take, particularly on the play that got him the hook.
“I think at the time of the game, that’s probably what stressed the Flagrant 2,” Williams said. “It was a transition opportunity and I was trying to make a play on the ball. I did reach across his body and when you slow down the replay, it looks like I make a play and then I kind of go after it. J.T. is one of my closest friends always. There was no intention of trying to harm him in any way.
“So, it was just one of those plays where in full speed he passes the ball, which probably makes it worse because that’s when I reach for the ball. The ball is already out of his hand. … You seen me raise my hand, say I fouled him.”
Apparently Brown wasn’t pleased with it, though.
“J.B. was frustrated because you don’t want to hurt your teammate and stuff like that. … He was just, ‘That’s what we are doing, Grant?’ Or something like that. But it’s just like ‘Nah.’ He knows me well. That was just a hard foul and we play them again (Saturday). It’s nothing crazy. We all know J.T. is my guy. Nothing intentional.”
But Williams couldn’t relay that message to Tatum.
“He got up quick and by the time I got up, there was a ruckus and they brought us to our benches,” Williams said. “I’ll talk to him tonight or (Saturday). He knows. We probably don’t even have to talk. He knows it wasn’t intentional or malicious by any means.”
Officials saw it differently.
“Grant Williams was ejected from the game because his foul was upgraded to a Flagrant Foul Penalty 2,” crew chief James Williams said, “and per rule that carries an automatic ejection. At review we saw that he accelerated his speed prior to the contact, and so he makes significant contact with the dribbler. The acceleration is considered wind up, the impact was significant, potential for injury so this was determined to be unnecessary and excessive, which gets us to a Flagrant Foul Penalty 2.
“Again, by rule, that is an automatic ejection from the game.”
Mark Williams still not close
Looks like Mark Williams won’t be in uniform in the immediate future.
Five weeks after being diagnosed with a strained tendon in his left foot, the Hornets’ starting center remains sidelined and there’s no clear indication he’s going to be available any time soon.
“Mark has been doing really well with his return-to-play plan,” Lee said. “I think that he’s done a good amount of individual work right now.”
However, Williams has yet to complete any full team drills or scrimmaging, which are two of the hurdles he must clear before making his regular-season debut. No timeline has been given for his return.
Williams, who missed most of 2023-24 with a back problem, sprained a tendon in his left foot during workouts last month just prior to the team heading up to Raleigh for training camp at Duke University.
After playing in only 19 games a season ago, he was expected to be fully healthy entering his third year and be an integral piece of the Hornets’ rotation under Lee as a rim protector and offensive option on the interior.
But Williams is relegated to spectator duty at the moment and it’s unclear when that will change.
“He’s engaged and observing all practice activities and film,” Lee said, “and even (Friday) at shootaround, he’s sitting next to me, trying to talk through the game plan and stuff. So, he’s doing all he can to make sure he’s soaking up all the information and terminology and when he comes back, he’s going to be ready to hit the ground running.
“But for now, he’s just kind of doing individual work. And the next phase of his return-to-play plan, he’ll do some group-type activities. And then once we get to practices and things like that, I think we’ll update further.”
This story was originally published November 1, 2024 at 7:18 PM.
