LOS ANGELES — When Grant Williams punched the ball a few rows up the Chase Center stands late in Boston’s loss to Golden State on Saturday night, he said it wasn’t a move out of frustration.

It was all just an accident, Williams said, since he was actually aiming to hit the ball off the backboard.

But the wayward mistake cost him $20,000 as hitting the ball into the stands is an automatic ejection. The infraction came with 1:52 left in the game.

Golden State beat Boston 123-107 in the rematch of this year’s NBA Finals won by the Warriors in six games. Williams finished with four points and two rebounds in 31 minutes.

“The ejection was one of those things you could definitely control,” Williams said. “I went to go punch the ball off the backboard. Let’s just say it didn’t go my way. When Scott (Foster) told me it’s an automatic ejection, I said, ‘No way; I didn’t know that.’ It was one of those things where it was just like you couldn’t help yourself. It’s all good. It doesn’t affect things moving forward; it just hurts your pockets a little bit.”

It’s the second time this season Williams was ejected from a game as he was tossed from Boston’s loss to the Bulls on Oct. 24. He brushed up against an official after having an issue with a call, which led to the automatic ejection. Williams was suspended one game for his actions, and he was apologetic to the official after the contact.

The ejection against the Warriors was a little different, he added, because it’s not like there was a lot of bickering or frustration with the officials. But NBA rules stipulate that hitting the ball into the stands isn’t allowed as Williams hit the showers a little earlier. Williams did joke about it after the fact, though.

“I gotta work on my boxing,” Williams said with a laugh. “Work on my straight jabs or something like that. I’m over here throwing hooks.”

PISTONS: Guard Cade Cunningham is planning to have season-ending surgery to repair his left shin, a person with knowledge of the situation said.

The No. 1 pick in the 2021 draft is expected to be ready for the start of training camp next season, said the person, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because neither Cunningham nor the team announced the plans for surgery publicly.

ESPN first reported that Cunningham would be having the season-ending procedure. Cunningham was on the floor in Miami before a game last week doing some shooting, which prompted some speculation that he may be coming back.

Cunningham hasn’t played since Nov. 9 while dealing with the shin issue, which has been treated as a stress fracture.

HAWKS: Guard Trae Young was fined $25,000 by the NBA for throwing the game ball into the stands a day earlier following an overtime victory against the Chicago Bulls in Atlanta.

Young hit a 20-foot jumper with 1 second left to give the Hawks a 121-119 lead in the extra period.

Chicago’s DeMar DeRozan sank three free throws with 0.5 seconds remaining in overtime to give the Bulls a seemingly safe 122-121 advantage.

But Atlanta’s A.J. Griffin took sideline alley-oop pass from Jalen Johnson and scored on a turnaround jumper with Derrick Jones Jr. defending to give the Hawks a 123-122 victory.

MONDAY’S GAMES

HEAT 87, PACERS 82: Bam Adebayo had 22 points and 17 rebounds and Jimmy Butler scored seven straight points late in the fourth quarter to help Miami hold off host Indiana.

Butler finished with 20 points. The Heat had lost three of their previous four and evened the season series with Indiana by pulling away late.

NETS 112, WIZARDS 100: Kevin Durant scored 30 points, Kyrie Irving had 24 and  visiting Brooklyn methodically pulled away to beat Washington.

The Nets, who won at Indiana on Saturday night with their top seven scorers sitting out, matched a season best with their fourth straight victory. All those players were back in action Monday except Royce O’Neal, who missed a second consecutive game for personal reasons.

Will Barton scored a season-high 22 points for the Wizards, who lost their season-worst seventh game in a row and now face a six-game trip out West that could bury them in the Eastern Conference standings. Washington was missing leading scorer Bradley Beal for the fourth straight game because of a right hamstring strain.

MAVERICKS 121, THUNDER 114: Luka Doncic had 38 points and 11 rebounds in his return from a one-game absence, and Spencer Dinwiddie added 20 points and 10 assists as Dallas defeated visiting Oklahoma City.

GRIZZLIES 128, HAWKS 103: Tyus Jones had 22 points and 11 assists, Dillon Brooks added 18 points and streaking Memphis beat short-handed Atlanta with both teams minus key starters.

Santi Aldama scored 16 points and Jaren Jackson Jr. had 15 points and a career-best eight blocks for the host Grizzlies, who won their sixth straight and moved within a half-game of Western Conference-leading New Orleans.

De’Andre Hunter led the Hawks with 19 points, and Jalen Johnson added 14 points and nine rebounds. Atlanta lost for the fourth time in five games.

Both teams were missing their leading scorers. Grizzlies guard Ja Morant sat out with right thigh soreness, while counterpart Trae Young was dealing with lower back tightness.

SPURS 112, CAVALIERS 111: Keldon Johnson scored 21 points and blocked a late shot by Donovan Mitchell as host San Antonio held off Cleveland..

TRAIL BLAZERS 133, TIMBERWOLVES 112: Damian Lillard tied his own franchise record by making 11 3-pointers and finished with 38 points, leading Portland past visiting Minnesota.

Copy the Story Link

Comments are not available on this story.