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[Saba Sports News] Cleveland Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson escalated his feud with Toronto Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic on Thursday, one day after a heated ending to their matchup.
The controversy began when Thompson threw down a dunk with 4.1 seconds left in Cleveland’s 131-108 win on Wednesday, despite Toronto players having stopped defending.
The move angered the Raptors, leading to on-court confrontations, including from star forward Scottie Barnes. After the game, Rajakovic backed his players, calling Thompson’s actions “no class and disrespectful.”
Thompson fired back on Thursday in a post on X, defending his late-game dunk. He accused the Raptors of pressing full court in the final minute despite their big deficit and sarcastically suggested they should be happy with the loss since it improves their draft lottery odds.
His remarks are unlikely to ease tensions, especially with the Raptors sitting at 17-38 and realistically focused on draft positioning. However, any potential revenge will have to wait—the Cavaliers and Raptors don’t face off again this season.
Thompson might also want to tread carefully, as Rajakovic has shown in the past that he’s not one to hold back when something pushes his buttons.