The Cleveland Cavaliers are in the midst of a slump right now, having lost four of their last five games coming into Wednesday night’s contest against the Hornets. The good news for the Cavs was they were getting Darius Garland back in the lineup, but even with the return of their All-Star guard, their defensive struggles continued to open things up against Charlotte.
The Hornets jumped out to a 20-point lead on the Cavs in the third quarter and frustrations with the team’s play and with the officials seemed to come to a head for coach J.B. Bickerstaff, who absolutely lost it on referee Natalie Sago after a blocking call on Cedi Osman, who hit him with a quick first technical and then a second that Bickerstaff more than earned.
Cavs Head Coach J.B. Bickerstaff has been ejected… pic.twitter.com/sKJmJxxeIT
— Bally Sports: Hornets (@HornetsOnBally) March 3, 2022
It is, at worst, a questionable call if not the correct one, as it’s Osman was close to being in position but it isn’t hard to see how you could think he was still leaning and sliding when the contact gets made.
Bickerstaff gave a few magic words to get his money’s worth out of his first career ejection as a head coach, as he tried to light a fire under his guys. Unfortunately, that did not turn the tide in the game, as the Cavs continued to struggle to get any stops against the Hornets, as they appear headed to a tie for the 6-seed with Boston, with a real risk of falling into the play-in if they can’t get things turned around quickly on that end of the floor.
Source: https://uproxx.com/dimemag/jb-bickerstaff-ejection-cavs-hornets-block-video/