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‘The impact was significant’: Referee explained why Grant Williams was ejected late in Celtics-Hornets game

Late in the fourth quarter Friday, with the Celtics on the verge of beating the Hornets, Grant Williams appeared to take out his frustrations on a longtime friend.

Williams charged at Jayson Tatum near mid-court and decked him with football-like force. He sent Tatum tumbling to the ground, also fell himself, and put up his right hand to indicate that he had, in fact, committed a foul.

He told reporters it wasn’t anything intentional, and he wasn’t “trying to harm him” in any way.

“It was a transition opportunity and I was trying to make a play on the ball,” Williams told reporters.