There are humiliating defeats, and then there is what the Phoenix Suns just experienced last weekend. For their part, the Dallas Mavericks do not think that the Suns did a particularly good job of handling it.
The NBA announced this week that they had fined the Mavs $50,000 for violating “bench decorum” in their Game 7 victory over the Suns this past Sunday. The official release stated that several Dallas players plus a member of the coaching staff stood for an extended period of time in the bench area and were encroaching on the court during live play.
Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News reported on Thursday that there is some speculation within the Mavs organization that certain Suns employees were the driving force behind the fine. Townsend says several Suns employees were seated behind the Dallas bench and might not have liked the players standing all game, a case of “sour grapes” in other words.
Game 7 took place in Phoenix, but the Suns got completely squashed in front of their own home crowd. They trailed by 46 at one point and would end up losing by 33 in maybe the most pathetic winner-take-all game showing ever. Thus, it is plausible that there was no other way for the Suns to save face than by complaining to the NBA about the Mavs and their bench antics.
That was Dallas’ second time getting fined for violating bench decorum in the Suns series, as they had previously been punished for doing so in Game 2. On the bright side, at least head coach Jason Kidd was able to get in a savage jab at Phoenix in response to the fines.
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