New York, United States—Los Angeles Clippers forward Marcus Morris was fined $35,000 by the NBA on Wednesday (Thursday Philippine time) 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 (Thursday Philippine time) 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.
The Clippers will open their second-round playoff series against Denver on Thursday in the spectator-less Covid-19 quarantine bubble campus at Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
Smart’s fine for violating NBA anti-flopping rules took place with 2:46 remaining in the third quarter of Boston’s 102-99 victory Tuesday over the defending champion Toronto Raptors.
The Celtics own a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven second round Eastern Conference series with game three set for Thursday. AFP
Meanwhile, Former basketball superstar Michael Jordan has taken an equity stake in online betting site DraftKings and will serve as a special advisor to the board, the company announced.
Jordan, chairman and owner of the Charlotte Hornets NBA team, will garner an unspecified stake in the online sports gambling company.
In exchange he will provide “strategic and creative input…. on company strategy, product development, inclusion, equity and belonging” and other initiatives, DraftKings said.
Established in 2012, DraftKings initially focused on fantasy sports before expanding into digital sports gambling in 2018 following a favorable ruling in the US Supreme Court for online betting.