Jeff Ayres (formerly Jeff Pendergraph) played for the Indiana Pacers last season, a team that took the eventual champion Heat to seven games during the Eastern Conference Finals.
In the final game of the series, with the score out of hand and the contest having already been decided, Ayres got into a shoving match with Norris Cole, and although the confrontation was minor, both players were ejected by the officials to prevent things from escalating during garbage time.
Ayres signed with the Spurs in the offseason, and played for his new team against the Heat in Miami on Saturday. Apparently, though, the name change and the new uniform weren’t enough to make the Heat players forget about how Ayres played against them in last season’s playoffs.
From Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News:Ayres felt no love lost in Miami after switching to the Spurs.
“That’s what it felt like,” Ayres said. “People were trying to take out my knees and stuff. I was like, it’s preseason take a chill pill.”The Heat seemed to take the rematch against the Spurs quite seriously, so we’ll take Ayres’ word for it. Despite the fact that the game meant nothing in the standings. Dwyane Wade looked sharp and the Heat rolled to a 121-96 victory.