steph curry-kendrick perkins-golden state warriors-cleveland cavaliers

At the end of the third quarter of the Warriors’ NBA Finals Game 2 victory over the Cavaliers, Steph Curry chucked up a last-second shot from right in front of the Cleveland bench, then began to jaw with Cavs reserve Kendrick Perkins. The two were separated, and no further incident occurred, but it was a notably tense moment in a generally low-stress game.

After the game, Curry called the run-in “much ado about nothing,” but according to ESPN, the Warriors don’t really see it that way. Chris Haynes reports Monday that “multiple Golden State players” were upset Perkins had not moved his legs as Curry fell toward the Cavs’ bench.

Multiple Golden State Warriors players told ESPN they were disturbed by Kendrick Perkins’ reluctance to move his knees and feet as Stephen Curry backed into the Cleveland Cavaliers big man at the end of the third quarter, resulting in a verbal confrontation between the two.

Some Warriors believe it was a dangerous play by Perkins and told ESPN that was the reason the 6-foot-3 guard confronted the 6-foot-10 center, resulting in the two standing face-to-face and exchanging words in front of the Cavaliers bench before being separated.

When you check back on the replay of the incident, it’s easy to see what the Warriors are talking about. As Steph launches his off-balance 3-pointer and falls backward, Cedi Osman moves out of the way, Jose Calderon flinches and big ole’ Kendrick Perkins stays still as a statue. Curry probably wasn’t going to get hurt on the play (which wouldn’t have cracked the top-five dirtiest moments from Steph’s teammate Zaza Pachulia, by the way), but given his history of ankle problems, you can imagine why he reacted so strongly.

In the end, thing turned out more than all right for Curry and the Warriors. Steph scored 16 points in the fourth quarter to finish with 33 in a Golden State win.

Perkins, meanwhile, finished with zero points on 0-for-0 shooting, to go with zero rebounds and zero assists.

[ESPN]

About Alex Putterman

Alex is a writer and editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. He has written for The Atlantic, VICE Sports, MLB.com, SI.com and more. He is a proud alum of Northwestern University and The Daily Northwestern. You can find him on Twitter @AlexPutterman.