Jabari Smith Jr. Hit Andre Jackson Jr. With a Cheap Shot Flagrant Foul and Jackson Got a T
The Milwaukee Bucks visited the Houston Rockets on Saturday night. Things got testy during the third quarter following a Damian Lillard three-pointer. As the Rockets called a timeout to stop an 8-0 run, there was a confrontation between Bucks rookie Andre Jackson Jr. and Rockets second-year big man Jabari Smith Jr. The players were separated and officials reviewed the play to figure out what the Hell happened. When it was all said and done Smith got a flagrant foul and Jackson was hit with a technical.
The view from behind the basket shows that Smith hit Jackson with a cheap shot, running into him from behind while Jackson wasn't paying attention. I guess Jackson got a technical foul for asking Smith why he just did that, but there's clearly a flex there so the NBA obviously can't have that.
The real heroes of the video are the Antetokounmpos and Alperen Sengun. Thanasis immediately got involved and then Giannis took time to speak to his young teammate. And on the other side you have Sengun diffusing the entire by being huge and shoving Jackson away before walking back to the bench completely unbothered by the situation. These are the peacemakers we need in the NBA.
UPDATE: Smith then got away with this late in the game. He clearly wound up and threw his arm into Giannis on this play, but even after review it was called a common foul.