Rick Carlisle fined $35,000 for comments about officials after Game 2
INDIANAPOLIS -- Pacers coach Rick Carlisle was fined $35,000 by the NBA on Friday for "public criticism of officiating and questioning the integrity of the league and its officials," according to a league statement credited to Joe Dumars, executive vice president and head of basketball operations for the league.
The fine is generally in line with the league's history on fines for coaches criticizing officials when they are considered to be "questioning the integrity of the league and its officials." Clippers coach Tyronn Lue was the last coach hit with that specific charge on Feb. 16 and he got the same fine.
Carlisle was ejected from Game 2 of the Pacers' Eastern Conference semifinals series with the Knicks, drawing two technical fouls in the game's final 45 seconds after a double-dribble called against Knicks center Isaiah Hartenstein was overturned. In his post-game press conference after the game Wednesday, Carlisle launched into criticism of the officiating in Games 1 and 2 of the series, both played at Madison Square Garden. He said he saw a clear imbalance favoring the Knicks and went so far as to say it was based on the fact that the Knicks play in the nation's largest market and the Pacers are in one of the NBA's bottom 10 markets.
"Small-market teams deserve an equal shot," Carlisle said. "They deserve a fair shot no matter where they're playing."
Carlisle said he had identified 29 calls he believed were incorrect in Game 1 of the series, but declined to send clips of those calls to the league office for review. After Game 2, however, he said he would be sending clips from both games. Reportedly, the Pacers sent 78 clips between the two games.
"I'm always talking to our guys about not making it about the officials," Carlisle said Wednesday. "But we deserve a fair shot. There's not a consistent balance, and that's disappointing. Give New York credit for the physicality that they're playing with. But their physicality is rewarded and ours is penalized. Time after time. I'm just really disappointed."
Game 3 of the series will be played at 7 p.m. Friday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Rick Carlisle fined $35,000 for comments about officials after Game 2
