Udonis Haslem Ejection Highlights the Miami Heat's Victory Against the Philadelphia 76ers
The Miami Heat defeated the Philadelphia 76ersn106-94 to remain in the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference but the victory was only a footnote.
The main story was Heat veteran forward Udonis Haslem being ejected in his season debut. He was ejected after getting in the face of Sixers center Dwight Howard. Here's what the team had to say about the moment:
Coach Erik Spoelstra: “The only thing I was waiting for was for him to take his mouthpiece out and throw it at Joey Crawford. That’s my favorite moment of the season so far. Just excessive passion, competitiveness and anger. Just love it. That’s why we roll with U.D. Everybody in that locker room just has great respect and love for him. He’s all about the team, he’s all about these moments. He hasn’t played this season in meaningful minutes, he just makes things happen. He’s always been about that. He’s always been about the moments, seizing moments. That’s what you saw tonight.”
Udonis Haslem: “It was fun for me to just go out there and play the game of basketball and continue to show people that I can still play at a high level and help my team win. I appreciate the crowd and my teammates when I scored the basket. I noticed everybody over there cheering for me. It was a great memory. If this is the last one, then I finished it the only way Udonis Haslem could, with an ejection.”
Forward Jimmy Butler: “I love confrontation, altercation and all of that good stuff. I feed off it, we feed off it. I encourage it.”
Center Bam Adebayo: “I was like this [expletive] is crazy. I was like UD, you can’t get tossed in the first four minutes. How long was he in the game? Four minutes? Three. Three minutes and you get tossed. I said ‘OG, you taught me a lot, but you didn’t ever teach me to get tossed in three minutes.’ It was kind of like a big brother moment, but I got to be big bro at that time. It was a good moment for me. It was like a teaching lesson. Just don’t get tossed in the first three. You can get the first tech, but then wait until the second half to get the other.”
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