Amare Stoudemire will be calling the Bulls dirty next.
Some of the talk at Pistons practice Monday was of the short left jab that Kirk Hinrich apparently threw at Flip Murray on Sunday after Murray did that poster slam over Hinrich with the Bulls leading 67-48 in the third quarter of Game 4.
Floyd Mayweather would be proud of it.
A Detroit News reporter spotted a video on YouTube, the self-produced video Web site, showing Hinrich landing a short left below Murray’s belt as Murray finished the dunk high above Hinrich.
There has been an epidemic of this stuff in the NBA recently. The Spurs’ Bruce Bowen was assessed a flagrant foul for kneeing the Suns’ Steve Nash in the groin in Game 3 of their Western semifinal on Saturday. The Jazz was calling for Baron Davis to be punished after the Warriors guard dropped Derek Fisher with an elbow in their game Sunday night. Plus Stoudemire’s accusation that Bowen kicked him in Game 2 of their series.
An NBA official said the league looked at the Hinrich blow Monday and determined “there was nothing there.”
“I didn’t feel it,” Murray said. “If he had done it, he wouldn’t have to worry about a suspension. But I don’t think he [did] it.”
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DID YOU KNOW?
Eight teams have wiped out a 3-1 deficit in an NBA playoff series and come back to win, and it even happened last year, with Phoenix upending the L.A. Lakers in the first round.
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Game 5: Bulls at Detroit
Tuesday: 7 p.m., TNT
