Dallas Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle was not able to finish his team's blowout loss against the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday, with the coach being ejected in the third quarter for “excessive arguing and profanity.” Carlisle opened up about the ejection after the game, explaining his side of the incident.
Carlisle remains adamant that the referees should not have given the Clippers a timeout, since the Mavs had possession of the basketball:
“What I saw was that Hardaway had the ball and a timeout was called by the official,” Carlisle said, via Tim MacMahon of ESPN. “My understanding in that situation is that once a shooter has the ball, a timeout cannot be called by the opposing coach.
“I thought that the call was wrong, and so I was asking about it and wasn’t getting a great explanation. Then it turned into a technical and another technical. I was just standing up for my team.”
The official pool report from the game officials stated that Clippers coach Doc Rivers had already called for a timeout even before Hardaway received the ball. They also explained that Carlisle was automatically ejected for using profanity throughout his incessant complaining.
The Mavs were already down a huge margin at that point, and perhaps in the back of his mind, Carlisle wanted to start a fire for his team by being ejected. This is an age-old tactic coaches pull off, but in this instant, LA's lead was just insurmountable at that point.
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