Jarrett Allen was whistled for a flagrant 1 foul after colliding with Julius Randle at the rim when the Knicks All-Star was airborne for a dunk, but Cavaliers head coach JB Bickerstaff made it clear after the game that he didn’t agree with the call at all.
“It was a contest of a dunk,” Bickerstaff said. “If you’re gonna get a steal - and they kept playing hard, getting into passing lanes - Why would one team play hard and the other one not? There was nothing dirty about the play. It wasn’t a flagrant foul. He contested a shot at the rim. It's that simple.”
Randle himself disagreed, calling the foul “a little unnecessary,” while Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau declined comment until he was able to watch the play again.
The play came in garbage time, with the Knicks trailing by 20 with just over two minutes to go in the fourth quarter of a game which felt out of reach since the first half.
Now, the Knicks will regroup and head home to meet Allen and the Cavs again for game three at The Garden, with the series tied at one apiece.