Thompson violated one of the NBA’s unwritten rules with his late dunk in the Cavs’ blowout victory.
The NBA has a few unwritten rules. One of those is that you shouldn’t try to score on your final possession if you’re winning in a blowout. Cleveland Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson violated that by dunking with four seconds left in a 131-108 win over the Toronto Raptors.
Unsurprisingly, the Raptors took exception to this and exchanged words with Thompson after the final buzzer. Thompson, also unsurprisingly, had words of his own to share back. Assistant coaches from both teams had to break up the scrum.
Tristan Thompson wins it for the Cavs pic.twitter.com/Ve88Gitvie
— Dylan (@dillybar2145__) February 13, 2025
Afterward, Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic took a shot at Thompson’s actions.
“I think what Tristan did here was no class and disrespectful,” Rajakovic said “We’re not gonna stand for that for sure. I’m really glad that our guys, our players. … I love when my team stands up for themselves. That was not a class act.”
Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic on Tristan Thompson’s antics late:
“I think what Tristan did there was no class and disrespectful… I love when my team stands up for themselves.” pic.twitter.com/ko5DTnU8lZ
— Toronto Star Sports (@StarSports) February 13, 2025
Unwritten rules are stupid in all sports. What happens in the final few seconds of a blowout doesn’t change the outcome of the game or make it more or less of a loss.
Still, Thompson has been in the NBA long enough to know that scoring there was going to cause the reaction that it did. He also seemed well prepared for it. We don’t know what exactly led up to it.
Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson also wasn’t sure what caused Thompson to go for the dunk.
“I’m not sure what he was thinking,” Atkinson said afterward. “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 you know, the goal of the game is to score and he just made a layup. But you know, [it’s] unfortunate.”
Rajakovic’s comments are harsh but understandable. This hasn’t been a great season for the Raptors and this certainly wasn’t a good showing from his team on the second night of a back-to-back. The Cavs completely had their way and were up by as many as 39 points midway through the third quarter before letting their foot off the gas. No one is going to be happy in that situation.
The Cavs swept their four-game season series against the Raptors. These teams won’t face each other again until next season.