Rondo denies trying to trip Crowder from bench

Relegated to street clothes with a fractured thumb, Rajon Rondo of the Chicago Bulls still found himself accused of getting physical in Friday's Game 3 loss to the Boston Celtics.

The mercurial point guard denies he was trying to trip Jae Crowder from the bench by extending his leg while the Celtics forward was passing by.

"When you tear an ACL, your legs get stiff on you every once in a while," Rondo, who suffered the injury in 2013, told reporters following Boston's 104-87 win. "Then, I stretch my leg out. I always do that throughout our game. I guess he was so deep into our bench, it looked like whatever may have happened."

Crowder - one of the players the Celtics acquired from the Dallas Mavericks for Rondo in 2014 - appeared to be talking trash in Rondo's direction after burying a jumper.

Rondo expects to be out "a couple of weeks" with the thumb injury. Friday's Celtics win cut Chicago's advantage to 2-1 in the series.