The Cleveland Cavaliers were in the Motor City on Wednesday, February 5, to take on the Detroit Pistons. While many eyes were on Pistons star Cade Cunningham, a newly christened NBA All-Star, towards the end of the game, it was a Cavaliers player who drew attention.
Just moments before the game wrapped up, Cavaliers star Jarrett Allen was ejected from the game after quite an incident.
Cavs’ Jarrett Allen Thrown Out of Pistons Game
With less than a minute on the clock, Detroit’s Ausar Thompson followed Cavs point guard Darius Garland around an Allen screen, and it appeared that Allen thought Thompson purposely hit him in the back of his head. On replay, it looked as though contact between Allen and Thompson was not intentional, but in the heat of the moment, Allen appeared to take matters into his own hands.
Allen set a screen and knocked Thompson to the floor. Detroit’s Malik Beasley ran up to come to Thompson’s defense, and a bevy of other Pistons stars jetted over, too, including Cunningham, Jalen Duren and Tim Hardaway Jr. Referees and security quickly got between the two players to cool things down.
After a review from the refs, Allen was ejected from the game with 56 seconds left on the clock. Beasley and Thompson both got technical fouls. After the free-throws, the Pistons were down 112-104.
The Pistons almost pulled off a win, with Cunningham, who finished with 38 points, nine assists, seven rebounds and four steals, being fouled on a three-pointer and making all three baskets with roughly five seconds left on the clock. But, the Cavs’ Darius Garland made a crazy three-pointer at the buzzer that ended the game, 118-115.
After the incident, Garland stood up for his teammate, Allen.
“He’s one of the nicest guys in the league. For him to do something like that, it’s a reaction,” Garland said in a postgame conference. “He’s not gonna be the one to throw the first punch or do something dirty. It’s a reaction.”
He added, “So we got his back whenever he decides to turn that side up. If he’s in the wrong, we’re gonna be with him. If he’s in the right, we’re gonna be with him, regardless. That physicality turns us up. That’s why we won that game.”
JARRETT ALLEN JUST FLATTENED AUSAR THOMPSON WITH THIS SCREEN & WAS EJECTED! 😳 pic.twitter.com/YV6f99qK3T
— Courtside Buzz (@CourtsideBuzzX) February 6, 2025
Detroit Pistons’ Malik Beasley on Cade Cunningham
Looking at the Pistons as a whole, speaking with FanDuel Sports Network, Beasley opened up on his thoughts on Cunningham. He compared the rising star to one of the biggest players in the league.
“He reminds me of Nikola Jokic,” Beasley said. “People don’t understand how great he is. I’m not just boosting him because he’s my teammate, but I’ve played with a lot of greats, I’ve seen it. He’s doing it so easily, so chill, and it’s fun to see and be around.”
“Comparing him to Jokic is certainly high praise, but Cunningham has earned (it) with how he’s looked for stretches this season,” NBA analyst and expert Kevin McCormick of Sports Illustrated noted in a February 6 feature. “He’s undoubtably made ‘the leap’ to the star tier in the NBA hierarchy.”
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