NEW YORK (AFP) – Los Angeles Clippers forward Marcus Morris was fined $35,000 by the NBA on Wednesday for a reckless blow to Dallas guard Luka Doncic, who was fined $15,000 for throwing a ball into a referee.
The punishments were handed down for incidents that took place in Sunday’s 111-97 Clippers’ victory over the Mavericks, which advanced Los Angeles into the second round of the NBA playoffs with a 4-2 win in the best-of-seven series.
Another fine of $5,000 was issued later Wednesday to Boston’s Marcus Smart for flopping.
Morris was fined more than normal for the reckless contact to the head of Doncic, the amount based upon the fact Morris has been disciplined on several prior occasions for physical altercations on the court.
On the play, which took place with 67 seconds remaining in the first quarter, Morris was issued a Flagrant Foul 2 and ejected from the game.
Doncic’s fine came for throwing the ball off the legs of a game official, which incurred a technical foul with 8:20 remaining in the third quarter.
The Clippers were physical on Doncic throughout the series, trying to disrupt the Dallas playmaker. The Slovenian averaged 31.0 points, 9.8 rebounds, 8.7 assists and 1.2 steals a game for the Mavs in the playoffs.
