Erik Spoelstra fined $25,000 by NBA for criticizing league officials – NBA News
The axe has fallen once again on Miami Heat and this time it’s the head coach Erik Spoelstra.
Spoelstra was fined $25,000 on Friday by the league for criticizing its officials. The Heat spoke out against the officiating in the series between the Heat and Indiana Pacers as well as the NBA’s review decision on flagrant fouls committed in game 5.
The Miami – Indiana series continues to make headlines in the NBA despite the fact that the series has finished and Miami had are in the Eastern Conference Finals.
The latest episode comes after coach Spoelstra criticized league officials ahead of the game 6 clash against the Indiana Pacers. The league reviewed the three flagrant 1 fouls committed during game 5, one by Indiana and two by Miami, and elevated all three to flagrant 2 fouls.
However, Udonis Haslem of the Heat was additionally given a one game suspension and Dexter Pittman was suspended for three games. Both did not play game 6 against Indiana.
On the contrary, Tyler Hansbrough of the Pacers, who committed the Flagrant 1 on Dwyane Wade, was not suspended as the league concluded that his foul was committed during the course of play.
Before the game, coach Spoelstra came to the press conference with a written statement and said:
"The league does not have a problem with hard fouls on our two main guys. In nine games now, there's been over a dozen hard fouls to the face, some of the tomahawk variety, some have drawn blood. They don't have a problem with it so we don't have a problem with it. We'll focus on what we can control.”
Before the series began, Indiana Pacers coach Frank Vogel was also fined $15,000 for making comments about the officiating in their scheduled clash with the Miami Heat. Vogel had said:
“The Heat] are the biggest flopping team in the NBA. It'll be very interesting to see how the referees officiate the series and how much flopping they reward."
The Heat will open game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Monday at the American Airlines Arena against the winner of the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers series. Game 7 of that series is going to take place on Saturday night at the TD Garden.
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