Grizzlies-Knicks ends with cheap shot, ejections, chants of 'Sell the team'
After Jae Crowder shot a 3-point attempt in the dying seconds of a soon-to-be blowout win, New York Knicks guard Elfrid Payton shoved the Memphis Grizzlies forward to the floor, setting off a minor skirmish that ended in ejections for both sides.
The Knicks and Grizzlies had to be separated after Elfrid Payton’s hard foul on Jae Crowder late in the 4th. pic.twitter.com/t1YWR5Wxdt
— ESPN (@espn) January 30, 2020
Payton received a flagrant 2 for the act, triggering his automatic ejection. His Knicks teammate Marcus Morris Sr. was given a technical foul for escalating, and he was ejected too. Damyean Dotson received a technical foul, but he remained in the game.
On the Grizzlies' side, Crowder was ejected alongside center Jonas Valanciunas, who was also tabbed with escalating the incident.
Once tensions cooled, Memphis held on for a 127-106 win, dropping the Knicks to 3-11 since Jan. 3.
The crowd at Madison Square Garden wasn't amused with the state of affairs Wednesday. The fans voiced their displeasure with the organization, imploring owner James Dolan to sell the team.
A loud "Sell the team" chant rises up at MSG with Knicks down 18 and a fracas on the court just broken up. MSG starts piping in loud music to break it up. Things are not going well in New York tonight. pic.twitter.com/X9zM0VQ3Vg
— Mike Vorkunov (@MikeVorkunov) January 30, 2020
Morris said plenty about Crowder postgame, making his dislike for the veteran known with a misogyny-laced critique.
"He plays the game a different way. He's just got a lot of female tendencies on the court. Flopping and throwing his head back the entire game. It's a man's game, man, you just get tired of it," Morris said, according to SNY. "Obviously at the end, that was very unprofessional. They're winning the game. That's a good team. He does stuff like that."
Morris specifically took issue with Crowder's late 3-point attempt.
"It is what it is. But when you step back and shoot a three - you know what I'm saying? - and try to, you know, rub it in that they're winning, that's unprofessional," he said. "That's soft. His game is soft, he's soft."
"He's very woman-like," Morris added.
Shortly after his comments began to circulate on social media, Morris released a statement:
I apologize for using the term “female tendencies” I have the upmost respect for women and everything they mean to us. It was a Heat of the moment response and I never intended for any Women to feel as though in anyway I’m disrespecting them. Again I apologize with my comments.
— Marcus Morris (@MookMorris2) January 30, 2020