Tempers flared in Cleveland last night when Tristan Thompson’s last-second dunk sparked outrage from the Toronto Raptors. With just four ticks left on the clock and the Cavs up by 21 points, Thompson threw down a two-handed slam that broke one of basketball’s unwritten rules.
The Raptors weren’t even playing defense at that point. They’d accepted the loss. That’s what made Thompson’s dunk so controversial.
“I think what Tristan did there was no class and disrespectful,” Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic fumed after the 131-108 defeat. “I’m not going to stand for that.”
His players didn’t stand for it either. As soon as the final buzzer sounded, Scottie Barnes and Jamal Shead confronted Thompson while boos rained down from the crowd.
Even Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson seemed uncomfortable defending his veteran player.
“I’m not sure what he was thinking,” Atkinson admitted. “Sometimes, though, you’re playing the game, and you just have a reaction. I know with Tristan, there’s no bad intention there.”
Shead didn’t buy that explanation.
“What he did at the end of the game was just a little bit disrespectful to the game of basketball, not just us,” the Raptors guard said. “We had a couple of choice words. We’re adults, we’ll move on from it.”
What makes this especially awkward? Thompson, a 14-year NBA vet, used to play for Team Canada before becoming a U.S. citizen in 2020.
Fellow Canadian RJ Barrett understood why his teammates were heated. “It’s kind of an unwritten rule to not do that at the end. Jamal did what he’s supposed to.”
The win pushed Cleveland to 44 victories – their highest pre-All-Star break total ever. But that milestone got overshadowed by those final four seconds.
