Ouch.
Golden State’s Shaun Livingston was caught in a mismatch trying to guard Dirk Nowitzki in the post, but that is not a cool way to play post defense. At all. Livingston got a flagrant foul for that and could see a fine from the league. Mark Cuban was none too thrilled this happened to his star.
Mark Cuban: "I said, 'Shaun, no one plays post defense like that.'"
— Diamond Leung (@diamond83) April 5, 2015
Mark Cuban: "Have you ever seen somebody play post defense like that?" Reporters: "Reggie Evans."
— Diamond Leung (@diamond83) April 5, 2015
Shaun Livingston on Dirk Nowitzki: "He happened to kind of sit back and create space with his lower area, and it was bad timing."
— Diamond Leung (@diamond83) April 5, 2015
Shaun Livingston: “Eleven years in (his NBA career), I haven’t had a dirty play."
— Diamond Leung (@diamond83) April 5, 2015
Shaun Livingston: “It was just an accident, and it looked worse than it actually was.”
— Diamond Leung (@diamond83) April 5, 2015
Only Nowitzki gets to decide how bad it really was — and he didn’t look happy. That said, Livingston isn’t a dirty player and this was just a one-off. We hope.
Golden State went on to a comfortable win, their 13th in a row, and with that locked up home court throughout the playoffs (including the Finals).
