Tensions ran a little high after the Phoenix Suns beat the Los Angeles Clippers in Game 2 following an out-of-bounds alley-oop pass from Jae Crowder to DeAndre Ayton to secure the 104-103 win. When both teams were walking back to their benches pending an official review of the basket, Clippers big man shoved both Cameron Payne and Devin Booker.
Nothing escalated past that point as Cousins continued walking to the bench and teammates came to pull Booker away. However, the NBA announced Wednesday afternoon that a technical foul has been assessed to Cousins for the incident.
Here’s a video of what happened:
Cousins has seen an increase in playing time in the Western Conference finals to match up with the Suns’ size, but in Game 1 he had five fouls in just 13 minutes of action. He played less than five minutes in Game 2, and was put in the game to defend Crowder inbounding the ball. However, Cousins’ size didn’t stop Phoenix from pulling off one of the most exciting game-winning buckets in the postseason in recent memory.
With the win in Game 2, the Suns now hold a 2-0 series lead over the Clippers with the series shifting to Los Angeles for Game 3 on Thursday.