The NBA has announced that Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart has been fined $35,000 for a profanity-laced tirade toward an official during his team's blowout loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday.

“Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart has been fined $35,000 for directing inappropriate language toward a game official, it was announced today by Joe Dumars, Executive Vice President, Head of Basketball relations,” the league said in a statement released on Thursday. “The incident, for which Smart was assessed a second technical foul and ejected, occurred with 2:26 remaining in the third quarter of the Celtics' 150-117 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday at Paycom Center.

Full video of the incident and preceding play makes Smart's frustration understandable, even if his outburst toward veteran official Lauren Holtkamp clearly crossed the line.

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Thunder big man Mike Muscala gets called for a personal foul on Smart's drive, clearly making illegal contact with Smart's arms as he jumps laterally across the paint to help at the rim. That's not what drew Smart's ire. Instead, it was the officials' subsequent call, after a brief conference, that Boston's point guard was in the process of passing rather than shooting upon being raked by Muscala, robbing him of two free throw attempts.

Would Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown have been sent to the line in this exact same scenario? That seems likely, as would their frustration at the refs determining they were passing the ball when they were clearly in a realistic shooting motion at the rim. Players are officiated differently; that's no surprise to Smart.

But his prior knowledge of that reality doesn't make it any easier to stomach in the moment, especially when the Celtics are being routed by the rebuilding Thunder without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander—and his wallet is $35,000 lighter for it.

Smart and Boston are back in action on Thursday for a nationally televised matchup with Luka Doncic and the surging Dallas Mavericks. Coverage begins on 4:30 p.m. (PST) on TNT.