Toronto Raptors players and coaches took exception to Tristan Thompson dunking the ball in the final seconds of the Cleveland Cavaliers' 131-108 win on Wednesday night.
Raptors head coach Darko Rajaković didn't hold back in his criticism of Thompson during his postgame press conference.
"I think what Tristan did there was no class and disrespectful," Rajaković said. "I'm not going to stand for that, for sure. I love when my team stands up for themselves. That was no class."
Thompson's dunk led to a skirmish on the court with Raptors players Scottie Barnes and Jamel Shead confronting him.
The Cavs were bringing the ball up the floor to run out out the clock when Craig Porter Jr. passed it off to Thompson, who decided to drive through multiple defenders and score with 4.1 seconds remaining.
Even Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson didn't have an explanation for why Thompson did what he did, but he tried to defend his player.
"I'm not sure what he was thinking," Atkinson said. "Sometimes, though, you're playing the game, and you just have a reaction. I know with Tristan, there's no bad intention there. I think just sometimes you're playing, and the goal of the game is to score. Unfortunate."
At this stage of his career, Thompson is used very sparingly off the bench. He tends to get on the floor in mop-up duty during blowouts. His four points against the Raptors were tied for his third-most in a game this season.
The Cavaliers extended their winning streak to four games with the victory over Toronto. They will enter the All-Star break with 44 wins, most in the Eastern Conference.