 "Photo: AP")
First, NBA referee Dick Bavetta races Charles Barkley during All Star weekend, now Joey Crawford wants to supposedly fight Tim Duncan.
In the Sunday afternoon game between the San Antonio Spurs and the Dallas Mavericks, power forward Tim Duncan was ejected in the third quarter.
The first technical Crawford hit Duncan for was complaining about the calls that Crawford had made throughout the course of the game but the second technical was more of a mystery.
With Duncan sitting on the bench and Crawford working as the trail official on the opposite sideline, Crawford issued Duncan his second technical foul thus resulting in an ejection.
Duncan was laughing with teammate Robert Horry after a blocking foul was called on Fabricio Oberto, but with all the crowd noise and the fact that Crawford was on the opposite side of the court, how did Crawford know that Duncan was laughing at him?
To add even more fuel to the fire, Duncan is convinced that Crawford not only has a personal vendetta against him but also would like to exchange blows with Duncan.
"He looked at me and said, 'Do you want to fight? Do you want to fight?'" Duncan said. "If he wants to fight, we can fight. I don't have any problem with him, but we can do it if he wants to. I have no reason why in the middle of a game he would yell at me, 'Do you want to fight?'"
Crawford has had a history of temper problems and has sought anger management in the past.
Despite his quick whistle, Crawford is still considered to be one of the premier officials in the NBA, having worked in every NBA finals since 1986.
But with his apparent continuing struggles with his temper, the NBA may need to sit out the 30-year veteran referee for this year's postseason.
Warriors, Clippers battle for last playoff spot
The NBA regular season ends on Wednesday, and both the Golden State Warriors and the Los Angeles Clippers will look to extend their seasons beyond that.
Going into Tuesday, the Warriors hold a full game advantage against the Clippers, while the Clippers own the tiebreaker.
The Clippers will travel to Phoenix to play the Suns Tuesday night and hope that the Suns' starters will be playing limited minutes. The following night, the Clippers will host the Portland Trail Blazers in a possible do or die game.
On the other hand, the Warriors still have the Mavericks and New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets on their remaining schedule.
But the Mavericks have yet to beat the Warriors this season, so coach Avery Johnson may be hesitant in resting his starters in an attempt to build some confidence just in case the Warriors do end up becoming their first round opponent.
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