Orlando Magic head coach Steve Clifford was fined by the NBA on Friday. The fine was due to postgame comments he made towards the game's officials immediately following Thursday's road loss to the New York Knicks.
Clifford, 58, in his second season manning the sidelines for the Magic, was fined $25,000 by the league for “abusing” the referees, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
In a down-to-the-wire, two-point loss to the Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Thursday, the referees seemingly missed two calls on the Magic's final possession of the contest. Clifford tried to call a timeout in the remaining seconds to set up a play with veteran shooting guard Evan Fournier falling to the floor.
The officials did not see Clifford call timeout and also did not call a foul on the Knicks for contact on Fournier. Fournier lost possession of the ball when falling to the ground in the last seconds. It led to a turnover and the game being sealed for New York. In the NBA's Last 2 Minutes (L2M) report, the officials confirmed there was no foul on Fournier; however, Clifford indeed signaled a timeout that the game's refs ignored.
Despite Clifford's vindication via the L2M, the Magic coach is still out $25,000 for his “abusing” comments. On tape, Clifford could be seen calling the game's officials “m—–f——,” and required his staff to restrain him as he yelled in the moments after the final buzzer at MSG.
After the game Clifford continued to disparage the refs for missing his timeout.
“There’s three of them. There’s a guy on the baseline and I just saw it. I mean, visibly I called timeout. I don’t understand how that timeout’s not called. That may cost me, I don’t care.”
The Magic, the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference, regroup on Saturday and host the conference-leading Milwaukee Bucks.
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