Mavs’ Doncic fined $35,000 over money sign toward officials

NEW YORK (AP) — Dallas Mavericks star LukaDoncic was fined $35,000 on Friday for directing a money signtoward officials in the final seconds of a loss to GoldenState.

Doncic walked toward officials while rubbing his fingerstogether with 1.7 seconds left in the 127-125 loss on Wednesdaynight. The four-time All-Star apparently was upset that a foulwasn’t called when he missed a layup.

Dallas was trailing 125-122 when Doncic caught a pass under thebasket and his layup bounced off the back of the rim. After theMavericks committed a foul to stop the clock, Doncic made thegesture.

The NBA said the fine was for “an inappropriate andunprofessional gesture toward a game official.”

Officials didn’t give him a technical over the gesture. Doncicfrequently complains to officials and is one technical foul awayfrom 16 this season, which would trigger a one-game suspension. Thecount doesn’t carry over into the playoffs.

Dallas owner Mark Cuban said he planned to protest the loss tothe Warriors over a sequence late in the third quarter that led toan uncontested dunk for Golden State’s Kevon Looney.

The Mavericks thought they had possession coming out of atimeout and lined up on their offensive end. The Warriors inboundedon the other end with no defenders, leading to Looney’s easy bucketfor a 90-87 Golden State lead.

Before the timeout, official Andy Nagy signaled possession forGolden State when the ball went out of bounds, but quickly pointedto the Dallas bench to indicate a timeout.

The Mavs contended that official Michael Smith must have thoughtDallas had possession because he was on the same end of the flooras the Mavs. Dallas believed officials should have stopped play tosort out the confusion.