In the last two NBA playoff series, the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Matthew Dellavedova has played well filling in for the injured Kyrie Irving. But Dellavedova has also been involved in three plays that were “perceived,” at a minimum, as “dirty”. Those three plays resulted in two players being ejected from playoff games and one ended the player’s season due to a serious injury. Dellavedova has received only one technical and stayed in all of the games. All three plays have possibly had an affect on the game and the respective series.
Has Matthew Dellavedova Become the NBA’s Dirtiest Player?
Undrafted, Dellavedova is a classic “hard working” and “effort” player. He is the type of player that normally you would root for. But this playoff season has revealed more to his game. Dellavedova has earned a reputation as not just hard working, but also a dirty player willing to possibly even hurt a player.
Dellavedova Leg Lock of Taj Gibson
For example, in game five of the playoff series against the Chicago Bulls, Dellavedova held Bulls forward Taj Gibson in a leg lock. Gibson tried to remove his leg from the leg lock as clearly revealed on replay. Inexplicably, even after a review, the NBA referees, including Joey Crawford, apparently did not see what everyone else saw. They ejected Gibson in a critical game for the Bulls while not even calling a foul on Dellavedova for the leg lock. The Bulls missed a key rebound at the end of the game that the Bulls might have had if Gibson had been in the game possibly changing the outcome. Bulls went on to lose the game without Gibson and the series.
https://youtu.be/miRG8D_OENs
Dellavedova Injury to Kyle Korver
Then, in game two of the Atlanta Hawks series, Dellavedova rolled into Hawks guard Kyle Korver’s knee and ankle ending his season. It was arguable that Dellavedova went much farther than just trying to get a “loose” ball and instead intentionally used his body to impact Korver’s knee and ankle.
Korver was ruled out for the season with a “high ankle injury.” It was a significant injury for the Hawks who were already struggling in the series. Many argued that the way Dellavedova rolled into Korver’s knees was at best reckless and possibly intentionally going after an NBA player’s knees or ankles.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyXod83nR1Y
Dellavedova Potential Injury to Al Horford
On Saturday, game three of the same Hawks series resulted in another controversial play with Dellavedova. In this game, Dellavedova appeared to push off into into Al Horford’s knee causing it to buckle slightly. Horford then appeared to retaliate with an intentional elbow to Dellavedova’s head. It certainly could be argued that Horford and Dellavedova were both at fault, but only Horford was ejected.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBySQufMAZg
After two possibly game changing mistakes and one injury issue, the referees may be missing the initial fouls or contact from Dellavedova. Even if you argue that the Korver injury and the Horford potential injury were not conclusively intentional, the leg lock of Taj Gibson was clearly intentional. It was shocking that Joey Crawford did not see the obvious even after a review and did not even call a foul on Dellavedova. In all three plays, the other team lost a player for the rest of the game and Dellavedova and Cavaliers have been barely penalized in crucial game situations.
These NBA playoff are very tight and intense and ejections of players can have a dramatic impact on the outcome. The referees need to be cautious about their ejections especially when they have the benefit of reviews. Dellavedova has played very well in the last two playoff series, but may have cemented his reputation as the NBA’s dirtiest player.
