The Dallas Mavericks endured a dreadful season in the second half. Not only did the squad fail to make the playoffs. Yet, the franchise is currently in hot water with the NBA. According to an NBA report, the Mavericks have been fined $750,000 for resting players.
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On Friday, the NBA penalized the Mavericks $750,000 for actions considered detrimental to the league. The sanction is the result of the club’s decision to rest key players in an elimination game against the Bulls on April 7.
The Mavericks broke the league’s player resting regulation and displayed the organization’s goal to lose the game through actions and public words in order to keep its first-round choice in the 2023 NBA Draft. The league found no evidence that the participants in the game were not trying to win.
“The Mavericks violated the league’s player resting policy and demonstrated through actions and public statements the organization’s desire to lose the game in order to improve its chances of keeping its first-round pick in the 2023 NBA Draft”, according to an official release by the NBA.
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Kyrie Irving, Josh Green, Tim Hardaway Jr, Maxi Kleber, and Christian Wood did not play for the Mavericks. Luka Doncic, the game’s star guard, only played in the opening the first few minutes of the second quarter before sitting out the remainder of the game. Dallas went on to lose the game 115-112, therefore knocking them out of the playoffs. Many argued that the Mavericks purposefully lost after squandering an 11-point fourth-quarter lead.
Nonetheless, the league found no misconduct on the part of the players who did participate in the game. Also, in a report by NBA, “The Dallas Mavericks’ decision to restrict key players from fully participating in an elimination game last Friday against Chicago undermined the integrity of our sport,” said Joe Dumars, NBA Executive Vice President, Head of Basketball Operations. “The Mavericks’ actions failed our fans and our league.”
Before the game, Dallas coach Jason Kidd stated that an “organizational decision” was taken to limit Luka Doncic to the first quarter while resting fellow All-Star Kyrie Irving and four other regulars. Despite the change, the Mavericks led by double digits in the second quarter when Markieff Morris scored 13 points and rookie Jaden Hardy sank a half-court jumper to beat the halftime buzzer for a 67-54 advantage.
Morris and Hardy did not play in the second half, and a team comprised primarily of guys who spent the season on the Dallas bench squandered the lead but kept the game close. With 39 seconds remaining, McKinley Wright IV’s layup pulled Dallas within a point before Dalen Terry scored on an alley-oop slam from White.
Dallas had three more chances to tie the game in the waning seconds, but Theo Pinson missed a possible tying three-pointer. Oklahoma City clinched the 10th seed and last play-in position in the Western Conference with the defeat.
It also meant that none of the NBA’s three Texas-based clubs would make the playoffs for the first time since 1980, with the Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs also missing out.
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