NBA notebook: Nets' GM suspended; NBA notes missed foul call

[April 22, 2019]  Brooklyn Nets general manager Sean Marks was suspended one game without pay and fined $25,000 on Sunday for entering the officials' locker room after Saturday's Game 4 of the first-round series with the Philadelphia 76ers.

The announcement by Byron Spruell, president of NBA league operations, didn't divulge what occurred after Marks entered the room following Brooklyn's 112-108 loss. But the contest was emotionally charged and included a ruckus in which Jared Dudley of the Nets and Jimmy Butler of the 76ers were ejected.

Nets coach Kenny Atkinson was upset following the contest that there wasn't a call on Philadelphia's Tobias Harris for grabbing Brooklyn's Jarrett Allen with 4.8 seconds left in regulation as his club looked for a tying or winning shot while trailing by two.

On Sunday, the NBA agreed with Atkinson's contention, acknowledging that Harris should have been called for fouling Allen. Marks will serve the suspension on Tuesday when the Nets visit the 76ers in Game 5.

--The NBA fined Dudley and Butler in the wake of the altercation involving several players in the third quarter of Saturday's first-round NBA playoff game in Brooklyn.

Dudley, who shoved Philadelphia's Joel Embiid after Embiid made a hard foul on Allen, was fined $25,000, according to Kiki VanDeWeghe, the league's vice president of basketball operations.

Butler, who then shoved Dudley, was fined $15,000 for escalating the situation. The scuffle then spilled over into the stands, with Philadelphia's Ben Simmons and Dudley as lead combatants.

--San Antonio Spurs guard DeMar DeRozan was fined $25,000 for his ball-tossing effort during Saturday's 117-103 loss to the Denver Nuggets.

VanDeWeghe said in announcing the fine that DeRozan was disciplined "for recklessly throwing the basketball toward a game official and into the spectator stands."

DeRozan was given a technical foul and was ejected after the incident with 5:01 remaining in the contest. DeRozan was called for an offensive foul after charging into Denver guard Gary Harris. He then leaped in the air and spun and sent the ball flying to the left of Foster.

Nets forward Jared Dudley (6) and head coach Kenny Atkinson argue with official James Capers (19) in the third quarter in game three of the first round of the 2019 NBA Playoffs at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

--The Cleveland Cavaliers were quick to halt any talk that they have interest in Rick Pitino as a candidate for their vacant head coaching position, cleveland.com reported.

The report, citing an unnamed source, said the Cavaliers have had no conversations with Pitino and "are respectfully not interested in him at all."

Veteran NBA reporter Peter Vecsey reported Saturday that Cavaliers chairman Dan Gilbert had talked to the longtime coach about the vacancy. Pitino, who also was the head coach of the New York Knicks (1987-89) and the Boston Celtics (1997-2001), has been coaching in Greece since last year.

--Dirk Nowitzki's NBA career might have ended earlier this month, but he still managed to score more points this weekend with a thank-you letter he penned to Dallas Mavericks fans.

The 2011 NBA Finals MVP and 14-time All-Star posted the letter in an ad he took out in the Dallas Morning News, wrapping up his 21-year career into 21 heart-felt lines that read like a poem.

Among the more touching lines: "From the moment I arrived in Dallas riding on this amazing roller coaster, you lifted me, supported me, pushed me to work harder," and, "This is THANK YOU Mavs fans, from the bottom of my heart, for taking in a kid from Wurzburg and making me one of your own."

--Field Level Media

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