Heat fined $25,000 for violating bench decorum rules in Game 6
"Several players stood for an extended period in Miami’s team bench area."
As Game 7 awaits, the NBA is doing some house cleaning on Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals.
First, the league asserted that the officials made six mistakes in the final two minutes of Friday’s game between the Celtics and Heat. Then later on Saturday, the league announced that it was fining the Heat $25,000 for “violating league rules regarding bench decorum.”
“Several players stood for an extended period in Miami’s team bench area, stood away from the team bench, and were on, encroaching upon or entering the playing court during live game action,” the league wrote in a statement.
There were multiple notable incidents where Heat players were noticeably either on the court during play or looked close to it. In the third quarter, Celtics point guard Marcus Smart made a 3-pointer while getting fouled by Heat forward P.J. Tucker. Heat backup forward Markieff Morris was standing right behind Smart on the play and had both of his feet on the court as Smart put the shot up. Several other Heat players on the bench also had to back up to get out of Smart’s way when he received the pass in the corner.
Another noticeable incident came late in the fourth quarter. Moments after he fouled out, Heat starting point guard Kyle Lowry stood right behind Celtics big man Al Horford before backing up a couple of steps when the pass went Horford’s way. A Heat assistant coach also had his feet close to the line of play as Horford put up a 3-pointer that missed.
Friday’s game wasn’t the first time where the Heat were penalized for their actions on the bench during the postseason. Morris received a technical foul, and later a $25,000 fine, when he grabbed Hawks guard/forward De’Andre Hunter during Game 5 of their first-round series.
The Heat weren’t the only team to be penalized for violating the league’s bench decorum rules so far during the playoffs, either. The Dallas Mavericks were fined three separate times for a total of $175,000 for violating the league’s bench decorum rules during their series’ against the Suns and Warriors. Their third fine was $100,000 after they received $25,000 and $50,000 fines, respectively.