The Dallas Mavericks were slapped with a hefty fine for their antics during their Game 7 win over the Phoenix Suns in the second round. This was also the second time the Mavs were asked to pay up after a similar offense earlier in the series.
The NBA's official statement pointed out that there was an issue with the Mavs' bench decorum. Simply put, some of the players on the bench were allegedly not standing where they were supposed to and this apparently impacted the game. According to Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News, however, there could be more to this than what's on the surface:
Speculation among some in Mavs organization is the reason Dallas was fined yesterday for its “bench decorum” in the G7 win in Phoenix is that several Suns employees were seated behind Dallas' bench and didn't like players standing the whole game. In other words, sour grapes.
Mavs head coach Jason Kidd fired a bit of a shot at the Suns after he heard about the fine and it seems like he may have a point here. Phoenix was utterly humiliated in the Game 7 blowout so perhaps they wanted to exact some revenge? If this is true then it appears that they have a bit of sway with the league's front office.