Forward Jae Crowder said he hopes that when the Celtics face the Cavaliers on Tuesday, Cleveland guard J.R. Smith says he is sorry for hitting him in Game 4 of the teams’ first-round playoff series last April.
“I hope he apologizes tomorrow, to be honest with you,” Crowder said. “I hope it wasn’t intentional. But if he doesn’t, then we’ll play ball.”
With 10:27 left in the fourth quarter of that game, Smith struck Crowder in the face as the two battled for a rebound. Crowder immediately fell to the ground and sprained his knee as he fell backward. He had to be helped to the locker room, and the knee sprain sidelined him for several weeks.
“We were really fortunate that Jae, when he went down, didn’t have anything more serious than he had,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said.
On the play, Smith was whistled for a flagrant-2 foul and was subsequently ejected.
Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @adamhimmelsbach