If familiarity truly does breed contempt, look no further than Wednesday nights matchup featuring the Dallas Mavericks and the Portland Trailblazers. Each team features players and coaches from the opposite the number- Coach Stotts and Al-Farouq Aminu from Dallas, now in Portland and Wesley Matthews and Assistant Coach Caleb Canales now both operating out of Dallas.
That familiarity came to a bit of a head late in the first half as CJ McCollum and Deron Williams were both hit with technical fouls after McCollum lost his footing, reached out and grabbed Williams' leg mid-jumper - essentially undercutting Williams. Williams took exception and went headband-to-forehead with McCollum and the kerfuffle was quickly snuffed out by cooler-ish heads.
Moments later, Dallas Mavericks rookie big man Salah Mejri was also charged with a technical foul for jawing at Aminu after he felt Aminu had kicked out on a drive to the rim. .
Coach Rick Carlisle of the Mavericks was also charged with a technical foul for arguing a non-call late in the third quarter. There have been 4 technicals charged in less than 32 minutes of game time.
The Mavericks lost to the Blazers, falling a game-and-a-half behind Portland for the sixth seed in the West.