LeBron James thinks foul against Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was dirty

With just over eight minutes left in the second quarter of Tuesday's Lakers game against New York, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope drove to the basket for a layup before being struck in the head by Bobby Portis.

Portis' right arm clobbered the side of his head, knocking his headband off. Caldwell-Pope lied on the ground dazed for a few seconds.

But LeBron James immediately sprung into action, angrily confronting Portis for what he later called a dirty play.

"It was [dirty]," James said. "There was no play on the ball. I saw the windup happen before the actual impact. I saw the way he was chasing KCP down. And then the windup. I saw that play happening before it actually happened. So, I just voiced my words to what happened, and then the refs came in between us. But I knew it definitely wasn't a basketball play."

Portis was assessed a flagrant 2 foul on the play and ejected from the game. He was fined $25,000 by the league on Wednesday "for recklessly making contact above the shoulders of an airborne shooter."

Caldwell-Pope went straight to the locker room and underwent the league's concussion protocol, which was negative. He returned with 2 minutes and 21 seconds left in the third quarter, finishing with 15 points on five-for-seven shooting in the Lakers' 117-87 win.

After the game, Portis said he didn't mean to hurt Caldwell-Pope.

"It wasn't intentional," Portis said. "It wasn't intentional at all. I went for the ball, but apologies to Caldwell-Pope. Happy to see he was able to get back on the court and do his thing. I wasn't trying to hit him. I was just trying to make a play on the ball, missed the ball, and hit him in the head."

Caldwell-Pope said he hadn't seen a replay of the blow -- and doesn't want to -- but added that he didn't think that Portis meant to strike him.

"I thought he was making a play on the ball, but it didn't go that way," Caldwell-Pope said.

The 26-year-old guard added that he was grateful that James was so quick to stand up for him.

"I didn't know what happened," Caldwell-Pope said. "I was spinning a little bit when I was on the floor. I just heard a lot of commotion around me so I just tried to either roll out of the way or get out of the way. It just means a lot that I have my brothers behind me."