So far, the second round of the NBA Playoffs has been pretty disappointing with most of the games being blowouts. The match-up between the Boston Celtics and Washington Wizards, a budding rivalry that has been building over the last couple seasons, has been the exception.
From Isaiah Thomas losing his teeth in Game 1 to an overtime thriller in Game 2, this series has been the one to watch. In Game 3 however, things got out of hand after Wizards wing Kelly Oubre Jr. took exception to a screen from Celtics big man Kelly Olynyk. Oubre immediately ran towards Olynyk and shoved him down to the floor, earning an ejection in the Wizards’ 116-89 win.
That move came at a cost for Oubre and the Wizards as the NBA has suspended Oubre from Game 4 according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical:
The NBA is suspending Washington's Kelly Oubre for Game 4 vs. Boston for altercation with Kelly Olynyk, league sources tell @TheVertical.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojVerticalNBA) May 6, 2017
This is huge news for the Wizards as they attempt to tie this series on Sunday. The bench of the Wizards is not a good one and Oubre was arguably their most reliable option. Not having him for what is their most important game of the season could hurt them significantly.
With Oubre out, more pressure will fall on starter Otto Porter Jr., who already plays a lot of minutes. Bojan Bogdanovic will also likely see an increase in role and minutes in this extremely important game.
This incident is not the first between these two teams this season. John Wall and Jae Crowder got into it after a January game in Boston which very nearly led to a brawl. In the ensuing matchup just over a week later, the Wizards players all wore black into the arena, saying that they were attending the ‘funeral’ for Boston.
Rivalries are always good for the NBA and make these playoff match-ups that much more fun to watch. When things get out of hand however, it hurt teams as the Wizards as finding out now.
