MIAMI (AP) — The NBA fined two Miami Heat players and the team itself a total of $55,000 on Thursday, over two incidents in the team’s series-clinching win earlier this week against the Atlanta Hawks.
Markieff Morris was fined $25,000 for interfering with live game play while on the bench. Jimmy Butler was fined $15,000 for making what the league determined to be an obscene gesture, and the team was fined an additional $15,000 for turning a video of the gesture into a social media post.
All three fines were announced Thursday.
Morris was not in the game when he grabbed and then held Hawks guard De’Andre Hunter out of bounds during third-quarter play. Hunter had stepped into the Heat bench area and Morris’ act kept him from getting back inbounds while the play was ongoing.
Morris was assessed a technical at the time as well.
Butler did not play in Tuesday’s 97-94 victory, watching the game from the bench because of knee soreness. He made the gesture a few seconds after Max Strus connected on a second consecutive 3-pointer, part of a 10-0 run by Strus and a 17-0 run by the Heat that put them ahead in the game for good.
The social media post has since been deleted from the team account.
It is Butler’s third known fine this season, totaling $70,000. He was fined $30,000 for his involvement in an incident during a Denver-Miami game in November and $25,000 for violating league rules governing media interview access at the All-Star Game in February.
Miami next plays Monday in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
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