The NBA on Sunday announced the league fined Celtics big man Al Horford after an incident Friday night when Boston faced the Orlando Magic at TD Garden.
Horford was ejected just 1:21 into the third quarter when he was assessed a flagrant two foul on Magic forward Moritz Wagner. Horford elbowed Wagner in the groin area as he tried to shake off the defender when the Celtics were inbounding the ball. Officials held a lengthy video review before the flagrant two foul was called, thus prompting an automatic ejection.
The NBA announced Horford was fined $25,000 for “making unnecessary and excessive contact.”
“Just getting the ball inbounds, I felt like I was being kneed, kind of shoved, in an excessive fashion,” Horford told reporters Sunday when reflecting on the incident, per MassLive. “I also thought his arm was trying to hit me, too. So I just kind of swung back with my arm, back at him.”
Celtics teammate Jayson Tatum didn’t agree with the ejection either.
Horford and the Celtics will face the Magic again Sunday afternoon at TD Garden in the second consecutive meeting between the two teams.
