Knicks' Bobby Portis Apologizes for Foul on Lakers' Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

New York Knicks forward Bobby Portis apologized to Kentavious Caldwell-Pope for the flagrant-2 foul he committed during his team's 117-87 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday. 

Per SNY.tv's Alex Smith, Portis said after the game he didn't have malicious intent when he swiped his arm in the direction of Caldwell-Pope's head while the Lakers guard was in midair on a layup attempt. 

"It wasn't intentional at all," Portis told reporters. "Went for the ball. Apologies to Caldwell-Pope. Happy to see him back on the court doing his thing. My intent is never to hurt anyone or anything. Just tried to make a play on the ball, missed the ball, and hit him in the head."

Members of the Lakers were unhappy with Portis' actions on the play. LeBron James told reporters after the game it was a dirty play: 

"It was [dirty]. There was no play on the ball [by Portis]. I saw the windup happen before the actual impact. I saw the way he was chasing KCP down. And then the windup. I saw that play happening before it actually happened. So, I just voiced my words to what happened, and then the refs came in between us. But I knew it definitely wasn't a basketball play."

Caldwell-Pope didn't take offense to Portis' actions, but he admitted he didn't want to see a replay of the foul. 

Lakers head coach Frank Vogel said they "didn't like that foul" by Portis but added they went into the game preparing for the Knicks to play a physical style against them.

Caldwell-Pope was able to return after being looked at by the Lakers' medical staff. He finished with 15 points, including eight after the hit from Portis, and had his best field-goal percentage (71.4) in a game since Nov. 25. 

Portis played a season-low six minutes before being ejected from the game. The 24-year-old had just two points on 1-of-5 shooting in the loss.