Matt Dellavedova Plays HHH To Al Horford’s The Rock, Cops Playoff Calibre Elbow

Scrappy but dogged Australian point guard Matthew Dellavedova again found himself embroiled in the physical end of the ledger, as his Cleveland Cavaliers march to the NBA Finals moves one step away from realisation.

In today’s Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals, Delly wore a controversial elbow from the Atlanta Hawks‘ power forward Al Horford, which officiating referees saw as severe enough to have the Hawks star marched off the court with an ejection and a flagrant foul attached to his name.
Horford and Dellavedova became entangled in the Hawks’ key, with Horford appearing to drag Delly’s arm, who then fell down, clipping the knee of Horford on the way through. Horford did not take kindly to the contact, and proceeded to drop The People’s Elbow on the back of Delly’s neck.

Whilst prevailing opinion following the incident generally revolves around the thought that Horford didn’t deserve to be ejected from the game over the action, it again embroils Delly in conversation about his uniquely tenacious style of play – which has lead some to accuse him of dirty plays and even deliberately targeting the leg and knees of opposition players, including in post-game analysis from broadcasters Reggie Miller and Chris Webber.

Delly had another huge game to continue his dream run through the NBA Playoffs, dropping 17 points (including 4 from behind the arc) along with 3 rebounds and 2 assists, as the Cavs dispatched the Hawks 114-111 in overtime to take a 3-0 lead in the Conference Finals.

The potentially decisive Game 4 goes down on Wednesday morning Australian time.
Photo: Gregory Shamus via Getty Images.

More Stuff From PEDESTRIAN.TV