Carmelo Anthony received two technical fouls and an automatic ejection after arguing a personal foul call with referee Tony Brothers on Friday night. Anthony became furious after he was hit with a loose-ball foul for diving over Celtics forward Amir Johnson with 4:44 remaining in the second quarter.
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Whatever words Anthony used didn’t sit well with Brothers, who hit Anthony with back-to-back technical fouls. That led to the ejection in a game that the Celtics ended up winning 115-87.
Watch video of the foul here:
Brothers explained after the game why he T’d up Anthony and claimed he has no personal history with ‘Melo.
But La La isn’t buying Brother’s story. She says Brothers “hates” Carmelo — and that’s nothing new.
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Knicks guard Derrick Rose said he was “surprised” by Brothers’ quick trigger and added to speculation of a personal beef ( via ESPN ): “He was still talking quietly. I didn’t get it. They have a history, I guess.”
Anthony wasn’t the only one who had a problem with the officiating crew, as the Knicks were called for a total of six technical fouls against the Celtics. While Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek didn’t openly criticize the officiating crew, he did send his own subtle message.
“I cannot comment on that stuff except, for some of those, I don’t blame the guys,” Hornacek said.