NEW YORK, March 30 — Philadelphia 76ers head coach Nick Nurse and forward Kelly Oubre Jr. each were fined US$50,000 (RM236,875) yesterday for their behaviour toward game officials following Wednesday’s 108-107 home loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.
NBA executive vice president Joe Dumars announced the fine for Nurse, indicating the coach “aggressively” pursued and verbally abused game officials. Oubre also was fined for “verbally abusing and directing an obscene gesture toward game officials.”
“First and foremost, heat of the moment, this is an intense basketball game, we are not perfect,” Oubre said after the game, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. “The refs are not perfect. I want to apologise for losing my cool, because that’s something I work on each and every day and I try to represent God in the best way I possibly can and that wasn’t it.”
Added Oubre after his postgame behaviour: “... I’ll take whatever penalties that come with that.”
NBA crew chief Kevin Scott said after a review of the final play that enough contact was present for a foul to be called.
“On the floor in real time to the crew, the crew interpreted that play as the defender jumping vertically,” Scott said, according to the Inquirer. “However, in postgame video review, we did observe some slight drift to his left by the defender, (Paul) George, and a foul should have been ruled.”
The 76ers led for most of Wednesday’s game before the Clippers made a late charge. Los Angeles took a 108-107 lead when Kawhi Leonard made a three-point play with 15.7 seconds remaining after he was fouled by Oubre while making a reverse layup.
On the other end, Oubre attacked the basket in the closing seconds, making contact with George in the lane before Leonard swatted away his potential game-winning shot. The Clippers finished off the victory after never leading by more than one point in the game. — Field Level Media
