Taj Gibson has insisted that he did not kick Matthew Dellavedova during the Cleveland Cavaliers' win over the Chicago Bulls in game five of their playoff series.
The Bulls power forward, who started in place of the injured Pau Gasol, was ejected from the Western Conference semi-final playoff when he appeared to kick the Cavaliers guard as he lay on the ground.
After the game, the 29-year-old told ESPN: "I didn't kick [Dellavedova] at all. He just leg-locked me. It got chippy at the end, of course. They didn't call a foul. I tried to pull my leg back.
"It looked like I kicked him from the way of the force I was pulling my leg out, but I have to deal with the consequences they ejected me. I have to deal with whatever the league has to say, but I didn't kick him at all.
"Both teams kind of swarmed the situation and made it bigger than what it was, but nobody threw any punches. I'm just sad that I couldn't finish the game and help my team."
Cleveland lead the series 3-2 ahead of the sixth meeting between the two sides on Thursday.
Sian Cowper
