Celtics’ Marcus Smart defends Al Horford in the wake of Steph Curry’s injury

With their 116-100 win on Wednesday night, the Boston Celtics took control of the NBA Finals with a 2-1 series lead, but most of the talk post game focused on Celtics center Al Horford and his role in the injury of Warriors star Steph Curry.

Celtics Al Horford criticized for ‘injuring’ Steph Curry

Late in the fourth quarter on Wednesday night the Celtics’ Al Horford dived for a loose ball and in the processed collided with Warriors star Stephen Curry’s left foot. While their didn’t seem to be any malice in the veteran’s move, the end result was the same and that was Steph Curry yelling in pain or at least that’s what teammate Draymond Green said, having seen the two time league MVP taken out for the rest of the game. Interestingly, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr indicated that he didn’t believe Curry shouting was because of the pain of injury.

Curry for his part could be seen with a noticeable limp as he left the arena and while Kerr and his charges didn’t go as far as to directly criticize Horford for the play, the Warriors’ fans on social media wasted no time in labeling the moment a “dirty play.” Curry has since stated that he believes he will be ready for Game 4 on Friday night, but rest assured there will still be understandable concern over the next 24 hours.

Celtics’ Marcus Smart defends Al Horford

Having been there himself earlier this season, when he made a similar move that ultimately resulted in Curry’s knee being injured - Curry would start the playoffs late as a result - it was interesting to see the Celtics defensive specialist Marcus Smart come to the defense of his teammate in light of the reaction on social media. “It’s the Finals. You’ve got guys diving all over the place. Their guys are diving into us. We don’t say nothing,” Smart said. “We’re getting hurt as well, but we continue to play. Nothing is intentional. It’s the Finals. We’re trying to win just like them. First one to the ball, as we all know, wins. They can complain all they want. It is what it is. There’s nothing dirty about it. It’s fair game. It’s fair basketball. It’s Finals basketball. ...Nobody is out here trying to hurt anybody.” Horford for his part maintained his innocence as well saying, “It has nothing to do with Steph,” Horford said. “I saw the ball and tried to make a play. We’re trying to win a game. I don’t think there’s any [controversy] there.”

Draymond Green got stepped into the fray

The unfortunate moment resulted in the Warriors Draymond Green picking up his sixth foul for pushing Horford off of Curry. “I saw him getting dove on and that was about that. So I picked up my foul pushing off him because he’s screaming at the bottom of the pile,” Green said during his post game media address. “It is what it is. I’ll take the foul. I’m going to get him off his legs, though. It’s all good.” Incidentally, Curry actually admitted that the sensation he felt was similar to that which he experienced in the aforementioned injury which involved Smart back in March. Curry would actually go on to miss the remainder of the regular season as a result.

Steph Curry gives his take

When asked on Wednesday if he felt the play was reckless, Curry admitted he wasn’t in a position to take a firm stance on the the scenario. “I haven’t seen the play, so I don’t know if it could have been avoided or not,” he responded during his post game address. “I was in that same situation with Marcus back in The Bay, and you just want to get your foot out of there. That’s all I was trying to do at that point knowing the position I was in. For what I feel like, it’s not as bad. So hopefully it responds well over the next two days.” Curry also went on to explain that he was positive about his chances of playing in Game 4 on Friday. “I don’t feel like I’ll miss a game,” Curry said. “So, I’ll take advantage of the next 48 hours and get ready.”