Niggling Aussie gets NBA rival ejected

Cleveland’s Australian star Matthew Dellavedova has escaped punishment for an act of gamesmanship that saw one of his Chicago Bulls rivals ejected as the Cavaliers prevailed in a crucial NBA playoff game.

Taj Gibson was given his marching orders for kicking Dellavedova, but replays of the incident show he was provoked by the Aussie. With the Cavaliers ahead by 10 in the fourth quarter and tempers fraying, the 206cm tall Gibson knocked Dellavedova to the floor as the pair battled for a rebound.

While sprawled out on the court, the 193cm Dellavedova appeared to put a leg hold on the American, prompting him to lash out in relaliation.The incident sparked a melee involving the 10 players on court, the referees, both coaches and even a police officer.

Only a replay, from the opposite angle to the original broadcast, showed exactly what happened.

“Delladova did the leg lock, I hope the referees see that,” one of the commentators says as the replay is shown.

“You can’t leg lock a man and think he’s not going to react,” he adds.

Gibson took no further part in the game after being handed a flagrant-two foul.

The Cavaliers went on to with the game 106-101 and take a 3-2 series lead with LeBron James scoring 38 points.