The Warriors’ latest NBA playoff series drama isn’t about a “dirty” game, but the theme still lingers after a few days.
The NBA on Sunday fined the Dallas Mavericks $100,000 for violating league rules regarding decorum on the team’s bench during games. Dallas was fined twice — $25,000 and $50,000 — for the exact same violation during their previous series against the Phoenix Suns.
The most recent incidents occurred during Friday night’s Warriors’ Game 2 win at the Chase Center in the Western Conference Finals.
With the series being moved back to the American Airlines Center in Dallas for Game 3 on Sunday night, Mavericks coach Jason Kidd and Warriors coach Steve Kerr were quizzed about the issue and penalty during their pregame press conferences.
“If you want to talk about the bank, we can talk about the bank, that’s up to you,” Kidd said. “We’re not talking about the bank. You guys did the article on the bench and that’s how we started getting a fine for bringing light on it. So you should pay the fine.
“So the media is to blame here. But we’re not complaining and that’s the truth. We lose with class and we win with class and that’s what we’re all about.”
Kerr has spoken a few times over the past few days about how he enjoys seeing the Mavericks players show energy for their team on the bench as long as it doesn’t interfere with the action on the court.
In Game 3, the Mavericks bench seemed to sway things as the Warriors had the ball in the second half.
“I love the energy of these guys,” Kerr told reporters 90 minutes before Sunday’s tip. “You can feel their togetherness. So all is well as long as there is no interference in the action. For us, for most teams, the guys these days are the modern NBA, more committed on the bench and there’s more theatrics and more dancing and overall I think that’s pretty good, but I think the difference is that it’s difficult to distinguish the Dallas assistant coaches from their players who are unfit and there’s a huge mix of people up there, which is fine as long as it doesn’t happen like what happened the other night where someone with the same color shirt as we call to the ball.
“And Steph threw it at him. It was a good pass. He was open. That’s the only problem I have with it. Everything else is great. The trash talking, the energy, I think the fans like to see that . They want to take care of the athletes, take care of the players, but if it affects the game, it’s going a bit too far.”
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Mavericks owner Mark Cuban sent a sarcastic tweet after the fine, while Tim Hardaway Jr. and Theo Pinson, both non-players in the series and standing in San Francisco during the first two games, also fired tweets about the fine.
The problem is unlikely to go away as the Mavericks need all the energy they can muster to get back into the Western Conference Finals. Dallas is trying to avoid falling into a three-game hole to none in Sunday night’s best-of-seven series at home.
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