When Mario Chalmers wasn’t throwing passes behind his head to LeBron James for ridiculous dunks, he was throwing his weight into DeMarcus Cousins late in Miami’s loss to Sacramento on Friday.
Chalmers picked up a flagrant for body checking Cousins, who went flying to the floor with under a minute and a half remaining in regulation. Afterward, Chalmers seemed to question the legitimacy of Cousins’ physical reaction.Chalmers on flagrant foul with Cousins: “I went for a box out and he flopped. He went flying. That’s exactly what happened. He flopped.”
— Joseph Goodman (@JoeGoodmanJr) December 28, 2013
It’s possible that the much smaller Chalmers caught Cousins at an awkward angle and that the fall was legit. More likely, however, is that Cousins exaggerated the contact to try to sell the call.
It probably didn’t hurt his cause that on the previous possession, Cousins fell awkwardly to the floor after what appeared to be an intentional throwdown by James, although replays appeared to show that it was unintentional.
The Kings got the victory by scoring 19 points in the five-minute overtime session against a Heat team that was clearly gassed; Miami sat Dwyane Wade and Ray Allen due to minor injuries.