Things were a brewing in the third quarter of the Atlanta Hawks' Game 5 loss to the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday night as the Hawks clawed back into it in a very physical frame.
Josh Smith went for the monster jam to cut the Chicago lead to 62-61 with 4:07 left and hung on the rim a tad too long perhaps in part to make sure that he didn't land on a Bulls player that fell down in the paint. When he came down, Carlos Boozer was there to shove an elbow in J-Smoove's mug.
Smith followed with a shove before the two were quickly separated. Here's a video of the exchange.
Atlanta's young highlight-providing forward was still miffed at Boozer after the game, telling the AJC's Jeff Schultz the following after the game:
"I dunked the basketball, I go to turn and he just cleared me with an elbow to the jaw," Smith said. "Nobody is going to do that to me, I don’t care who you are. I’m a man first."
Those sound like fighting words.
Chicago took a 3-2 lead in the series, setting up what should be a brutal elimination game on Thursday night at the Highlight Factory. Let's just say it will be interesting to see what happens if the game gets out of hand.
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