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Bad Blood Brewing Between KCP and the Celtics

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Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has been involved in some controversial plays against the Celtics.

The Boston Celtics currently lead the Orlando Magic 2-0 in the first round of the NBA playoffs. Two games into the series, and Magic wing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has established himself as somewhat of a villain. KCP has been involved in two controversial plays, which have led to some pointed post-game quotes. Let’s dive into these plays and quotes.

Bad Blood Brewing Between KCP and the Celtics

KCP’s Foul on Tatum

In Game 1, KCP received a flagrant foul after Jayson Tatum awkwardly landed on his wrist. This play ultimately resulted in a bruised wrist for Tatum, which caused him to miss Game 2, and he is listed as day-to-day moving forward.

Since this play resulted in Tatum getting injured, it will inherently be controversial. However, it’s unclear if Caldwell-Pope had any malicious intent. In some ways, it looks like a natural basketball play as he is trying to block Tatum’s shot at the rim, but his timing is off, and he unfortunately hits Tatum’s elbow. Tatum’s injury could have influenced the flagrant foul ruling. Nevertheless, after the game, veteran big man Al Horford sounded off about the play.

“There was something extra. It was about the second or third time that, especially, KCP went at him in that way.” Horford said when asked about KCP’s flagrant.

Digging a bit deeper, there were a couple of hard fouls KCP committed on Tatum earlier, most notably this play. However, his intentions are again unclear; this play simply looks like a hard foul, where KCP hits Tatum’s wrist. With these plays paired together, it’s understandable why Horford was upset.

KCP Hits Horford in Game 2

In Game 2, after a tight closeout by Horford, resulting in a missed shot for KCP, he bumped into and tripped Horford as he was running down the court. Immediately after the play, Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porziņģis rushed to Horford’s defense. While it didn’t result in a flagrant foul, this play seemed to have more intent. KCP came out of the corner to trip Al, and this isn’t a natural basketball play in any sense.

After the controversial play on Tatum, this isn’t a good look for Caldwell-Pope, and many people believe he is a dirty player. It’s clear there’s some animosity between KCP and the Celtics; this will only continue as the series goes on. Horford insisted KCP’s play was intentional, and it’s hard to argue otherwise.

“Yeah, it was, [intentional] I was starting to run on the break and he got into me there and impeded my progress,” Horford said after the game regarding the KCP trip.

Horford is one of the most respected veterans around the league and generally a mild-mannered player, so for him to have such resounding comments in back-to-back games is telling. It will be interesting if more incidents happen specifically between these two players.

KCP is Embracing the Villain Role

While KCP is becoming hated in the eyes of Celtics fans and players, it’s clear he’s embracing it. KCP has claimed to see Horford’s comments, he maintains that hard fouls happen in playoff basketball. In the first quarter, he encouraged the TD Garden crowd to boo him more.

Every great series needs moments, some heated moments, and many great series have some sort of villain or enforcer. KCP is certainly adding intrigue to a series that didn’t project to be very competitive. However, KCP has struggled, averaging just 4.5 points while shooting 21.4 percent from the field this series. Undoubtedly, there will be more chippy moments between KCP and the Celtics as the series progresses, this rivalry will be worth monitoring for the rest of the series.

 

Photo credit: © Winslow Townson-Imagn Images

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