Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle was fined $25,000 after his team’s Game 3 loss to the Houston Rockets for criticizing the officials. He wasn’t about to let his mouth lighten his wallet again on Sunday night.
After the Mavs beat the Rockets in Game 4 to extend the series and avoid a sweep, a reporter asked Carlisle about the physicality of the game with five technical fouls and 52 fouls total being called. Rather than risk saying something about the refs, Carlisle taped his own mouth shut.
“Are you asking me a question about the officiating?” Carlisle said. “I brought something just for that.”
The original comments Carlise was fined for had to do with Houston being a physical team.
“That stuff’s got to stop,” he said last week, via Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News. “The officials (have) got to get that stuff under control, because there’s too much physical stuff going on. (Dwight) Howard is throwing people all over the place. And that can’t happen in Game 4.”
It’s still going to take a miracle for the Mavs to win their series against the Rockets, especially with all the drama that has taken place with their star point guard. Given the tough spot his team is currently in, Carlisle’s sense of humor is refreshing.
