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Jazz's Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert Fined for Criticizing Refs After 76ers Loss
March 5, 2021
Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert have been fined by the NBA for criticizing the officials after the Utah Jazz's 131-123 overtime loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday.
Per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, Mitchell has been docked $25,000 for "public criticism of the officiating and his conduct while exiting the playing court." Gobert was fined $20,000 for publicly criticizing the officiating.
Mitchell was ejected in overtime against the Sixers after receiving two technical fouls. He proceeded to argue with the officials for a brief period of time before leaving the court.
After the game, Mitchell told reporters that he didn't like to blame the referees but "this is getting out of hand."
"There have been games like this that we've won; there have been games like this that we've lost," he added. "This whole refereeing stuff and the way we're nice, we don't complain, we don't get frustrated, we fight through things. The fact that we continually get screwed in this way—we won this game, in my personal opinion."
Gobert echoed his teammate's sentiments by telling reporters the Jazz are "not able to get some calls that everybody else in the f--king league gets."
The Jazz led by as many as 13 points against the 76ers, but were outscored 79-62 in the second half and overtime to lose for the third time in four games heading into the All-Star break. Philadelphia had a 35-19 advantage in free-throw attempts.
Despite their recent rough stretch, the Jazz ended the first half with the NBA's best record at 27-9. They have a 2.5-game lead over the Phoenix Suns at the top of the Western Conference.