Clippers' Tyronn Lue Fined $35K for Publicly Criticizing Refs After Win vs. Warriors

Los Angeles Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue has been fined $35,000 for publicly criticizing the referees following Wednesday's 130-125 win over the Golden State Warriors, the league announced Friday.

Lue was also ejected from that matchup in the fourth quarter after getting into a verbal altercation with an official.

Lue first got into an altercation with one of the officials after a hard foul on Mason Plumlee by Warriors veteran Draymond Green. He appeared to ask the official to take another look at the foul and an argument escalated to the point where he had to be held back by James Harden.

Lue was ultimately assessed a technical foul before play continued.

Less than a minute later, Plumlee drove to the basket while being defended by Green and missed his shot.

After Warriors rookie Brandin Podziemski grabbed the rebound, Plumlee swung at him multiple times and chaos ensued before he was assessed a flagrant 1. Lue picked up his second technical foul of the game during the incident and was subsequently ejected.

The Clippers were down by nine points when Lue was ejected before storming back for the win. After the game, he was captured on video greeting his players and calling out crew chief James Williams.

"Where the refs at now? Cheating a--. That's all they've been doing," Lue shouted.

Lue added following a round of high-fives with his players: "Where James? The referee. I want to kick him in the mouth. Where James at?"

The Clippers improved to 36-17 on the season with the win. They sit third in the Western Conference behind the Minnesota Timberwolves and Oklahoma City Thunder.

The victory demonstrated L.A.'s resilience and determination as the team was able to secure the victory in the absence of Kawhi Leonard due to a left adductor strain and the departure of Lue in the fourth quarter.

With Leonard and Paul George having been healthy for most of the season, the Clippers look like a real threat to make the NBA Finals. Considering this is the first time since the 2020-21 season that the team has a good chance to make a deep postseason run, it's no surprise Lue's passion was on display against the Warriors.