So okay - what might have happened last night if Jayson Tatum and Terry Rozier had not made such a determined effort to halt Marcus Smart's aggressive advance on Cleveland's J. R. Smith? In the extreme, we may have seen a repeat of The Punch - the incident where Kermit Washington leveled Rudy Tomjanovich, breaking his face and fracturing his skull. I am far from exaggerating here.
We are dealing with elite athletes here - some of whom are physically powerful.