Gibson not upset by Blake Griffin's flagrant foul: 'It's basketball'

“I wasn’t trying to hit him in the face,” Griffin said. “There wasn’t intent to hurt or intent to really hit him. I was trying to get the ball and he pump-faked me.”

There were no hard feelings on Gibson’s part, either, after the play. Gibson didn’t see the replay until after the game, but in the moment, he said he was surprised the foul got upgraded.

“Man, I’m old school,” Gibson said. “It’s basketball. You’re going to get hit. First thing as soon as it happened, he reached down to make sure I was OK.

“I’ve known Blake for a long time. Great guy. Even after he got ejected, he was making sure I was OK. It’s no big thing. It’s basketball. But that’s how our league is now, so you have to respect the referee.”