The Cleveland Cavaliers’ 131-108 win over the Toronto Raptors saw anarchy unfold following the final whistle. A brawl almost broke out after the end of the game because of  LeBron James’ former Cavs teammate, Tristan Thompson. However, the Raptors head coach was actually proud of his team following this altercation.

“I think what Tristan did there was no class and disrespectful. I’m not gonna stand for that for sure…I love when my team stands up for themselves. That was [a] no class act,” said Darko Rajakovic, clearly unimpressed and annoyed by Tristan Thompson’s actions. But if you’re wondering why Darko was so displeased at the post-game presser, don’t worry, we’ve got the answers.

The Cleveland Cavaliers were leading 129-108 in the dying seconds of the game when the ball came to Tristan Thompson. Now, most players in his position would choose to run out the clock given the Cavaliers’ commanding lead. However, Thompson followed a different course of action. He chose to drive into the Raptors’ scoring area and disrespectfully dunk the ball for an extra 2 points. The Raptors, already dejected, didn’t take kindly to his actions.

As the teams headed to the tunnel, Scottie Barnes and his teammates had a few words for Thompson. Though it’s unclear what they said, their words clearly had the intended effect. Thompson immediately rushed over and got in their faces before players from both teams intervened. A chaotic end to a dominant display by the Cavs.

The Cavs moved to 44 wins in the regular season with tonight’s victory. No other team has more this season. However, this was probably not the way they wanted to end their night. Even their head coach was dumbfounded by Thompson’s actions.

Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson comments on “unfortunate” ending to the Raptors game

It seems the two head coaches involved in tonight’s game have different opinions on Tristan Thompson’s actions. While Darko Rajakovic chose to condemn Thompson’s actions, the Cavs’ coach, Kenny Atkinson defended his player when asked for his take on the situation.

“I’m not sure what he was thinking. Sometimes, though, you’re playing the game and you just have a reaction. I know with Tristan, there’s no bad intention there. I think just sometimes you’re playing and the goal of the game is to score. Unfortunate,” said Atkinson.

It does make sense that Thompson would get carried away in trying to score as many points as possible. However, as a 14-year veteran of the NBA, Thompson should’ve known better than to score in the manner he did.

At the end of the day, Thompson’s actions did end up putting a damper on the Cavs’ 44th win of the season. Let’s just hope something like this doesn’t happen again as we approach the All-Star break!