Lakers' Marcus Smart, Luke Kennard Fined by NBA for Criticizing Refs, How Much Money Did They Lose?
A pair of Los Angeles Lakers players have been fined for their comments towards officials after Sunday's Game 4 loss to the Houston Rockets.
The NBA announced Monday that Marcus Smart has been fined $35,000 "for questioning the integrity of game officials," while Luke Kennard picked up a $25,000 fine "for directing inappropriate language toward game officials."
Things got a bit chippy at the end of the Lakers' loss to the Rockets. With just over a minute to play, the two sides, both of which had their reserves in, exchanged some words after a foul, and the brief altercation ended with Los Angeles' Adou Thiero and Houston's Aaron Holiday being ejected.
Lakers center Deandre Ayton was ejected in the third quarter after swiping Alperen Şengün in the face while playing defense.
Frustrations from the Lakers culminated once the buzzer sounded. Both teams got into another brief scuffle, and Smart and Kennard appeared to be confronting the officials amidst all the chaos. That is seemingly where the two players picked up their fines.
The Rockets perhaps had the more favorable whistle, as they were awarded 31 free throws compared to 21 for the Lakers, but that wasn't the only reason Los Angeles lost.
The Lakes turned the ball over 23 times and shot a lackluster 23 percent from the field in a performance that LeBron James called "unacceptable." James had eight turnovers, the most of any Laker.
"Defense wasn't our problem tonight – it was our offense," James told reporters. "We made sure we turned the ball over 23 times for 30 points."
The good news for Los Angeles is that it still leads the series 3-1, and the Rockets would have to make history to move on to the second round. Still, the Lakers can't afford another sloppy performance in Game 5.
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