Austin Rivers Fined $25,000 for Outburst at Fan vs. Jazz

Los Angeles Clippers guard Austin Rivers was fined $25,000 by the NBA on Saturday for his verbal outburst at a fan during a game against the Utah Jazz on Thursday, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

Per Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times, Rivers told a fan who he believed to be heckling Clippers center DeAndre Jordan to "shut the f--k up," during the Clips' 126-107 loss to the Jazz at the Staples Center in L.A.

On Friday, Rivers apologized for the incident and said he yelled at the wrong fan, according to Turner:

"After the game, I went back to that fan and apologized to him. Gave him dap, a handshake and a hug and said, 'Hey, I apologize. I was frustrated.' They were like, 'We weren't the people who said that.' I go, 'I'm sorry, I shouldn't have reacted that way anyways.' He said, 'It was someone behind us.' That's what I heard.

"I never respond to that stuff but we were down 20 and I was frustrated. It happens. First of all, this happens all the time with players and fans. I just got caught because the camera was on me. So it was bad timing, first and foremost, and it was a bad thing for me to do. Someone was talking ... about DJ and I was sticking up for him. That's just what it was. It was a simple as that. But I was wrong."

The Clippers have struggled since starting the season 4-0, although they were on a three-game winning streak entering Thursday's game having previously lost nine in a row.

L.A. is just 8-12 on the season after trading point guard Chris Paul to the Houston Rockets during the offseason. To make matters worse, forward Blake Griffin suffered a sprained MCL on Monday and could miss two months.

Rivers has taken on an increased workload with Paul out of the picture, and he is enjoying a career year with 13.8 points and 3.4 assists per game.

The Clippers are currently 10th in the Western Conference and will look to get back on track Saturday when they face the Dallas Mavericks.