The Brooklyn Nets lost a heartbreaker on Saturday afternoon to the Philadelphia 76ers. Despite leading for most of the game, the Nets were unable to hold on down the stretch, giving the Sixers a 112-108 win and a 3-1 series lead with the festivities shifting back to Philadelphia. It was a hotly contested affair, one which saw a scuffle, ejections, and some serious bad blood between both squads at the forefront.
This emotion apparently carried over to the locker room after the game. The NBA announced that Nets general manager Sean Marks made his way into the referees’ locker room after it all came to an end, which led to him getting levied a $25,000 fine and a one-game suspension.
Brooklyn Nets GM Sean Marks has been suspended one game without pay and fined $25,000 for entering the referees’ locker room during post game.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) April 21, 2019
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Marks wasn’t going after the referees as much as he was trying to send a message to his team.
Sources: Nets and GM Sean Marks were livid over belief Embiid’s flagrant 1 fouls in Games 2/4 should’ve been deemed a 2. More than message to league with ref challenge, Marks intended to message his team on how franchise is determined to support way they're competing in series.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 21, 2019
Marks was hardly the only person who expressed frustration with the officials after the game. Nets coach Kenny Atkinson, in reference to the team’s final possession, was unhappy with how the referees missed Sixers forward Tobias Harris wrapping his arm around Nets big man Jarrett Allen. Brooklyn ran a screen-and-roll with D’Angelo Russell and Allen, but as Allen dove to the rim, Harris wrapped his arm around his waist. No foul was called, and eventually, Allen turned the ball over.
https://twitter.com/Supreme_Gifs/status/1119716139884351488
“So, the big point of emphasis this year was the wrapping,” Atkinson said. “Wrapping a player when he rolls to the rim, wrapping around the waist — you guys can judge for yourself if you watch the clip, but there is a clear wrap by Tobias Harris on the roll, and I’m just disappointed. If that’s a point of emphasis from day one at the coaches’ meeting how they’re gonna really emphasize that, beginning of the game, end of the game, and all season … so how that, all of a sudden, doesn’t become a foul on a wrap, I just don’t understand. I’ve looked at the clip 10 times, there’s a clear wrap, you guys can decide for yourselves.”
Russell, meanwhile, was asked about the team’s need to protect themselves, with specific reference to the ordeal that saw Nets forward Jared Dudley and Sixers wing Jimmy Butler get ejected in the third quarter.
“I’ma answer this as sincerely as I can without going at the refs, that’s not my intention, but we’ve seen hard plays, we’ve seen hard fouls go against Jarrett Allen the last few games, this happened to be from the same player, so for Jared Dudley to step up and react like that, I thought it was necessary,” Russell said. “We’re getting the bottom end of that in the results of it, so for one of our players to be on the ground after every hard play like that, that’s not what it’s gonna be. If those guy aren’t seeing it from our perspective, we see it from that perspective, so we’re gonna handle it our own ways.”
It’s safe to say the Nets haven’t been especially happy with some aspects of how this series has been officiated. This will certainly be something to watch as the team heads into a win or go home situation during Game 5, a game in which their general manager won’t be in attendance.
