NBA

Nets’ Watson, Bulls’ Robinson involved in another dustup

CHICAGO — There’s still no love lost between C.J. Watson and Nate Robinson.

The two backup point guards, who have gone at it throughout the first round series between the Nets and Bulls, were back at each other again — literally — in the second quarter of Chicago’s 142-134 triple-overtime win over the Nets yesterday.

After Robinson took exception to Watson trying to clear space for himself by swinging his arm out in Robinson’s direction, Robinson grabbed Watson and drove him into the scorer’s table, where they had to be separated by the referees.

Robinson picked up a personal foul on the play, and both were assessed technical fouls, as well.

“He pushed me, and I was holding him so I wouldn’t fall into the table,” said Watson, who said he was confused about what he did to earn a technical foul. “It was nothing.”

When Watson was asked if he thought it was a cheap shot by Robinson, he made it clear how he feels about his counterpart.

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“I mean, that’s in his character, so that doesn’t surprise me,” Watson said.

Watson got a measure of revenge early in the fourth quarter, with the help of Gerald Wallace. Watson ran Robinson into a bone-crushing Wallace screen that left Robinson on the floor for several seconds.

Robinson, however, had the last laugh, as he finished with 34 points after scoring a combined 29 points in the fourth quarter and overtimes. That included 12 straight in the fourth to help the Bulls erase a late 14-point deficit — before fouling out in the second overtime and watching the final minutes of the game play out from the bench.

“I always feel like I’m on fire,” Robinson said. “That way, in a game, I can play with a lot of confidence.”

Many of those points late in regulation came with Watson guarding him, as well.

“He got hot, but [the issue] was our pick-and-roll defense,” Watson said. “We were supposed to step up in the pocket after the first couple of dribbles and he caught fire.”