It was the game’s opening tip, Milwaukee’s Larry Sanders is lined up for the jump ball, won it, and as he came down inadvertently elbowed referee Bill Kennedy in the head. Ouch.
We need to add that Sanders leads the league in technicals with 14 (and he has a lot of ejections), but this didn’t earn him one. Nor should it have, that was not intentional. The game was stopped for a minute but Kennedy soldiered on and continued the game.
It worked out fine for Sanders — he had 24 points to lead the Bucks over the Bobcats. It’s a key win putting the Bucks 1.5 games back of the reeling seven seed Celtics, and just one game back in the loss column. Finish with the seven seed you get the Pacers or Knicks in the first round, get the eight seed and the Heat wipe you off the map quickly. Self-preservation is a strong motivator.