Boston Celtics

Celtics' Crowder demands apology from Cavs' Smith

Published Dec. 15, 2015 12:25 p.m. ET

foxsports

During last year's physical first-round confrontation between the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers, J.R. Smith wound up and back-hand punched Jae Crowder in the face. The blow knocked him over, and Crowder suffered a knee injury falling to the ground.

Let's just say there's no love lost between these two players as they head into a highly-anticipated rematch on Tuesday night. Here's what Crowder told The Boston Globe about it:

Crowder's clearly moved on and is currently enjoying the best season of his career, averaging 12.5 points, 2.0 steals, 2.0 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game. He's also making his threes at a respectable clip and providing some of the best perimeter defense in basketball.

Smith, on the other hand, is shooting 37.3 percent and hasn't been able to handle increased offensive responsibility in the absence of Kyrie Irving and Iman Shumpert.

“I hope he apologizes [Tuesday], to be honest with you,” Crowder said Monday before later adding, “”I hope it wasn’t intentional. But if he doesn’t [apologize], then we’ll play ball.” Those comments should add an extra level of intrigue surrounding the rematch of two of the best Eastern Conference teams in early stages of the 2015-16 campaign.