Boston-Atlanta: Where Head-Butting and Not Getting Tossed Happens

By: D.K. Wilson

I‘m wondering if anyone noticed that fact that, just before Game 4 (about 6 p.m.) of the Boston Celtics-Atlanta Hawks matchup the league informed Paul Pierce that he would be fined $25,000 for making a “menacing gesture” during Game 3. The “gesture” Pierce made was said by Commissioner David Stern and his patrolman Stu Jackson to be a “Blood gang sign.”

It is the same sign Pierce makes before every game and signifies, “Blood, sweat, and tears.”

I’m wondering if anyone actually watched the game last night. I’m wondering if anyone noticed how, as the Celtics jumped out to a 16-3 lead that the officials were “NCAA-ing” the Cees primary players. I’m wondering if anyone noticed how just when the Boston Celtics threatened to turn the Atlanta Haws home arena - The Underachieving Dome - and its fans into one of those away crowds where the fans shout, “MVP” for one of the opposing players, that a scant 3:49 into the game Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo, Kevin Garnett, and Paul Pierce somehow each incurred one foul.

Instead of the Hawks “fans” - those who must have been bribed into attending a playoff game to fill the arena for television cameras and David Stern’s appearance - filing out to the parking lot midway through the second quarter, the fouls allowed a thoroughly shocked Atlanta team to miraculously regain it footing. Because the Celtics suddenly were forced to play timid defense the Hawks were able to take full advantage of the ref’s largesse and embark on a run that made Atlanta look like the #1 seed versus the #8 seed Celtics.

I’m wondering if anyone noticed that Pierce was the first key Boston player to leave the floor as the result of a suspect second foul and by the time the first quarter was one minute from its end, Garnett and Rondo followed Pierce to the bench saddled with their second “fouls.”

I’m wondering if anyone noticed how the Atlanta Hawks were able to man-handle the Celtics in front of Stern and his punishment -doling lackey Stu Jackson without recompense or fear of reprisal; that the Hawks became emboldened by the officiating crew of Eddie F. Rush (crew chief), Mike Callahan, Monty McCutchen and incrementally became more and more dirty physical as the game progressed.

The trend could be seen easiest by the manner in which normally placid Mike Bibby began trying to goad Boston players into fouls by bumping Celtics players as he ran by them during Atlanta’s possessions and subtly pushing Celtics players on the defensive end.

It was exacerbated by the constant woofing of woman-voiced Al Horford. It was exacerbated by the constant uniform tugging, extended forearms to the back, hand-checking, and illegally nudging Boston big men too far under the boards as the ball approached the rim of Zaza Pachilia, whose name makes “him” sound like a Bulgarian prostitute come to America taking on a new last name that is an embellishment of hippie perfume.

So, when Garnett finally tired of the shenanigans and ‘bowed Ms. Pachilia, h/she reacted by head-butting Garnett.

Now, as a slight interlude, this morning ESPN’s Mike Greenberg all but demanded that Kevin Garnett should be suspended for Game 5 of the Boston Celtics-Atlanta Hawks series. Greenberg had the gall to say, in the wake of the Roger Clemens revelations, “That’s [the potential of a Garnett suspension] what everyone is talking about this morning.”

“At some point you gotta see the video here,” Greenberg exclaimed.

You wimp, STFU (and I know you understand text-speak) and concentrate on your pedicure. Oh, and BTW, peeps are whispering ever louder about the mic lip-bumping.

Pachulia head-butted Kevin Garnett. Then 6′7″ Joe Johnson proved his manhood by rushing up and pushing ———– 72-year old Sam Cassell. Did Eddie F. Rush have Pachulia escorted off the court as he should have? No. Rush froze and assessed four technical fouls, to Garnett, Cassell, Pachulia, and Johnson - and let bygones be bygones.

And let the Hawks maintain their emotional edge.

But let me repeat that: a —— h-e-a-d b-u-t-t. As an official you cannot allow a player to physically assail another player by head-butting him and then commence to spit-talking an inch from his face. Put it like this: in a public setting somebody’s ass is getting beat down if one person head-butts another person - period.

And yes, the Celtics squandered a 10-point end of the third quarter lead in a flash thanks to Doc Rivers inexplicable resting of this game’s Celtics catalyst, Rajon Rondo for the first three minutes of the fourth quarter and then for key minutes later in the fourth. However, the stage for a Game 4 Atlanta win was set waaay back in the first period.

I’m wondering if anyone has noticed that this “historic playoffs” with all these “great” teams battling each other, especially in the Western Conference, are turning into ho-hum, higher-seed trouncings. And as close as the games have been in that series - and the #3-#6 San Antonio-Phoenix series has been mostly close - each higher seed leads three games to one. That’s 4-0, 3-1, 3-1, 3-1 in what was supposed to be the most hotly contested conference first round playoff matchups in NBA history.

But in the allegedly “easy East” the number one and two seeds just happen to be tied 2-2 against #7 and #8 seeds with losing records.

Sure.

But hey, it’s the NBA — where head-butting and not getting tossed happens.

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D.K. Wilson is a freelance sports writer. He is better known on the internet as "DWil," and writes for Sports On My Mind.

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7 Comments

  1. That was not a head butt. That was getting in someone’s face…If that’s a head butt, it happens during every umpire/manager argument in MLB.

    Comment by steve on April 29, 2008

  2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2bh6u8_VW8

    I agree, there was contact, but I don’t know if I’d call that a headbutt. At around the 1 minute mark of this video there’s a pretty good shot of what happened.

    Comment by David on April 29, 2008

  3. Hey Tom -

    Boston had 24 fouls. Atlanta had 22…. I see a 2 foul disparity. It just so happens that Boston came out a little more aggressive in the beginning, which speaks to their early lead, and as a result, got called for more fouls - simply because of their aggressiveness. They were playing more amped up, more physical than the Hawks, and the refs called it. However, once Boston settled down, the Hawks began piling up more fouls as the game went along and Atlanta became the more aggressive team. In last night’s game, aggressiveness led to physical play, which led to foul calls. It was consistent throughout the game.

    Oh yeah, Tom, don’t forget this is also the NBA - where shoving the ref and not gettiing tossed happens. (Just ask Garnett). You’re gonna ask the refs to toss Zaza for getting in Garnett’s face (and MAYBE bumping his forehead), but give Garnett a pass for clearly throwing an elbow at Zaza and then proceeding to shove a ref? I hope your Celtics get torn apart in the next two games because that article you just wrote was pathetic.

    Comment by Steve on April 29, 2008

  4. What Pachulia did was NOT a headbutt. Not even close. This is a headbutt: http://youtube.com/watch?v=vF4iWIE77Ts&feature=related

    Comment by Headbutt Police on April 29, 2008

  5. WOw. That article really stunk. Garnett E-L-B-O-W-E-D Zaza in the face out of frustration. Obviously. You can watch it a hundred times on YouTube and see it was all initiated by Garnett. All Zaza did was get in KG’s face. Let’s retrace the events here. This substanceless article was a waste of my time.

    Comment by Mic Roc on April 29, 2008

  6. It’s funny how you chose to remember the “Headbutt” and complain about it, but at the same time are reluctant to comment on the fact that 2 benched Celtic players stepped on the court during this altercation (the exact same offense that Amare and Diaw from the suns were suspended for last year) and the NBA decided not to suspend them.

    Comment by jason on April 30, 2008

  7. they shouldn’t have rested their players weeks before the playoffs started - they had a pre training camp team out there in the first few rounds - then the good teams shows up - lakers and pistons - and boston kick their asses - weird but it worked! i’m sure the boston owners liked it tough! more money!

    Comment by sarah on September 17, 2008

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