Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Fouls aplenty in L.A.
Dragic, Johnson, Waiters, Spoelstra slapped with fouls
OAKLAND, Calif. — The box scores tell a familiar story but also an emerging one. Not only have the Miami Heat’s past two losses, to the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers, made it eight losses in their past nine games, but tensions are mounting.
In Sunday’s 98-86 loss to the Clippers, guard Dion Waiters was ejected for a Flagrant 2 elbow to the head of guard J.J. Redick, in a game that also featured technical fouls to guard Goran Dragic, forward James Johnson and coach Erik Spoelstra.
Two days earlier, also at Staples Center, Dragic was ejected after a dustup with Lakers guard Jordan Clarkson, with technical fouls assessed to Dragic and Johnson.
Waiters said at Monday’s practice at the University of San Francisco that he was shocked by his first career ejection.
“That was a terrible call,” he said. “It wasn’t like I did it on purpose. I was trying to box out. It just so happens that he moved. My arm slid up. First time I’ve ever been ejected.
“You just can’t play physical in the league, I guess. I don’t know, man. I don’t know.”
The banishment shocked the reserve guard.
“Those types of calls these days don’t even make sense, man,” he said. “It’s not like I did it on purpose or was trying to hurt the guy. I was trying to box out like a regular play. What happened was he moved and my arm slipped up. It wasn’t intentional.”
Redick was unclear about motive.
“I’m not sure what happened,” the Clippers guard said. “I was boxing him out, and he elbowed me in the head. I’m not sure if it was intentional or not. He said it wasn’t intentional.”
The feistiness from the Heat has yet to make an impression in the standings. The ejections of Dragic and Waiters were the second and third of the season for the Heat. The Heat’s only other ejection was less benign, with Johnson ejected for two technical fouls in the Dec. 3 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.
Dragic now leads Heat players with five technical fouls, with Johnson with four. Spoelstra has six.
The NBA on Monday fined Clarkson $15,000 for what it deemed “a forearm above the shoulders” to Dragic. That decision could be an indicator of a similar eventual fine for Waiters, who as of Monday afternoon had yet to be interviewed by the league office. Of the NBA’s after-thefact action on Waiters, Spoelstra said Monday: “That’s how we would have seen it after the fact. The only difference obviously would have been for Goran to continue to play, maybe a technical, but still being able to contribute in that game.”
Dragic, who spoke to NBA security Saturday, said he plans to appeal his ejection.
“I didn’t hear anything about me,” he said of possible additional sanction as