Luka Doncic was fined $35,000 by the NBA for an inappropriate official to an official. Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press
NEW YORK — Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic was fined $35,000 on Friday for directing a money sign toward officials in the final seconds of a loss to Golden State.
Doncic walked toward officials while rubbing his fingers together with 1.7 seconds left in the 127-125 loss on Wednesday night. The four-time All-Star apparently was upset that a foul wasn’t called when he missed a layup.
Dallas was trailing 125-122 when Doncic caught a pass under the basket and his layup bounced off the back of the rim. After the Mavericks committed a foul to stop the clock, Doncic made the gesture.
The NBA said the fine was for “an inappropriate and unprofessional gesture toward a game official.”
Officials didn’t give him a technical over the gesture. Doncic frequently complains to officials and is one technical foul away from 16 this season, which would trigger a one-game suspension. The count doesn’t carry over into the playoffs.
Dallas owner Mark Cuban said he planned to protest the loss to the Warriors over a sequence late in the third quarter that led to an uncontested dunk for Golden State’s Kevon Looney.
The Mavericks thought they had possession coming out of a timeout and lined up on their offensive end. The Warriors inbounded on the other end with no defenders, leading to Looney’s easy bucket for a 90-87 Golden State lead.
Before the timeout, official Andy Nagy signaled possession for Golden State when the ball went out of bounds, but quickly pointed to the Dallas bench to indicate a timeout.
The Mavs contended that official Michael Smith must have thought Dallas had possession because he was on the same end of the floor as the Mavs. Dallas believed officials should have stopped play to sort out the confusion.
FRIDAY’S GAMES
WIZARDS 136, SPURS 124: Corey Kispert scored 26 points and sank six 3-pointers, Deni Avdija added 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and Washington pulled away for a win over San Antonio in a meeting of depleted teams in Washington.
Delon Wright added 24 points and Kristaps Porzingis 23 for the Wizards, who missed three-time All-Star Bradley Beal (left knee sprain) for a second game.
The 12th-place Wizards snapped a four-game losing skid on a night they began 2 1/2 games back of the Chicago Bulls for the final Eastern Conference play-in game spot.
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