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The Cleveland Cavaliers wake up this morning just one win away from the NBA Finals. The team took a 3-0 series lead over the Atlanta Hawks in the conference finals last night, thanks to an outstanding performance from LeBron James. After shooting 0-10 to start the game, James ended up finishing with 37 points, 18 rebounds and 13 assists. His clutch three-pointer and layup in the final minute of overtime sealed the deal on a night for the history books.
And yet despite all of this, sharing just as many, if not more headlines with James today is none other than Matthew Dellavedova. Cleveland’s backup point guard from Australia didn’t have a night of stat-sheet dominance like James, but was still in the center of one of Game 3’s most crucial moments.
Scrambling for a loose ball, Dellavedova ended up getting tangled with Hawks center Al Horford. The two tumbled to the ground, but Horford got up and immediately dropped an elbow on Dellavedova. As a result of the clearly over-the-top reaction, Horford was ejected. After the game – and during, if you count Twitter reaction – the implication seemed to be that Dellavedova was playing dirty.
“He went after my legs,” Horford said. “If it was on purpose, we don’t know. Maybe it wasn’t on purpose. But with his track record, I just felt like it was.”
Horford wasn’t the only one who noted Dellavedova’s “track record” last night, as both Kent Bazemore and Shelvin Mack referred to it as well. DeMarre Carroll seemed to imply the Cavs guard was indeed going after Horford’s knees.
Maybe the aforementioned Hawks players were speaking out of frustration, both at losing one of their best players mid-game and falling into what appears to be an insurmountable 0-3 hole. Whatever the case was, one thing is clear. If Atlanta, or anyone for that matter, believes Dellavedova is a dirty player, they’re dead wrong.
It’s amusing, really, when you take a deeper look into this “track record” the Hawks kept referring to when it comes to Dellavedova. Hearing it at surface level, it sure sounds like he’s just known for headhunting and trying to take out players any chance he gets. However, you’d be sorely mistaken if you truly believed Dellavedova legitimately has a bad rap.
What Atlanta may be referencing is an incident from Game 2, in which Dellavedova went after another loose ball and collided with All-Star Kyle Korver. As we know, Korver rolled his ankle on the play, and is now out for the year.
As unfortunate as his injury was, though, it was clearly not a result from a dirty play by Dellavedova. The Cavs guard was clearly just diving for the ball. When you’re in a position where your knee is directly over a loose ball – as Korver’s was – the risk for injury in the ensuing scrap is high. But, to call it dirty, to assume this is additional evidence of Dellavedova’s track record, is ridiculous.
You’d like to think, after seeing the play from last night for himself, Horford would clearly realize Dellavedova was not intentionally going for his legs. The Atlanta big-man was tangled with Dellavedova, pulling him along as the two tumbled to the court. Additionally, Dellavedova tripped over Carroll, making it practically impossible for him not to fall to the ground.
If Horford can watch every angle of the replay and still assume this was just Dellavedova being dirty, I can’t help him. Perhaps it’s all coming from the fact a similar play resulted in the Hawks losing one of their best players in the game before. As mentioned, though, that play wasn’t dirty, and neither was last night’s.
Now, if we want to throw in the incident from the previous series, where Dellavedova appeared to leg-lock Chicago Bulls’ forward Taj Gibson, frustrating him to the point where he was ejected for kicking the Cavalier, this is a slightly different story. Yes, Dellavedova did appear to have some suspect tactics in this instance, and I can’t reasonably claim it was all accidental.
But, to use this as an assertion that Dellavedova is indeed cheap, as proof he’s the kind of guy who’d go after someone’s legs in a game, that’s just plain wrong.
Dellavedova’s playing style is one which frustrates plenty of opponents. He’s incredibly scrappy and energetic, using these traits to pester anyone he guards all night. Does this result in some plays you could deem “reckless”? Sure. But, there’s a stark difference between reckless and dirty. Dellavedova realizes this, it just appears as though the Hawks don’t.
It was encouraging to see James come to the defense of his teammate after watching him get peppered with Atlanta’s accusations at the post-game presser last night. James went to bat for Dellavedova, pointing out his incredible work ethic and chastising those who tried to give him a bad reputation. In the end, James finished on the subject by laying down some harsh truth.
“If they’re focused on Delly, then they’re focused on the wrong thing.”
It’s tough to argue with that. It’s easy, though, to argue about whether or not Dellavedova is a dirty player. Is he a relentless pest on the court? Of course. But, is he the cheap-shot artist Atlanta seems to be describing?
Absolutely not.
Casey Drottar is the Cleveland Beat Writer for www.Rantsports.com. Follow him on Twitter or “Like” him on Facebook
