Jordan Clarkson: Throwing Ball at Dario Saric 'Part of the Game'

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Jordan Clarkson chalked up his decision to throw a basketball at Dario Saric in the waning moments of Thursday's 108-97 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers as "part of the game."

The incident unfolded late in the fourth quarter after Saric dunked the ball with 12.2 seconds remaining to put the Sixers up 10 with the result already in hand.

Saric and Clarkson Brawl

"Uh, basketball, that's it," Clarkson said when asked about the skirmish, according to ESPN.com's Dave McMenamin. "Part of the game. If anybody say different, that they wouldn't have did that, that they'd have did something different or anything else, they lying. Especially if it was at that [point] of the game. They know what's up. That's it."

It was an eventful final few minutes for Saric, who also had words for the Cavaliers bench when he hit a clutch triple and stretched the Sixers' lead to four with 2:09 remaining in regulation.

According to McMenamin, several Cavaliers players "respected the newly acquired Clarkson for taking action and said they appreciated him showing pride on their home court."

The Sixers and Cavs will hold their fourth and final regular-season meeting April 6 at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.