Toronto Raptors team President Masai Ujiri's wallet got a little lighter over the weekend after he was fined $25,000 by the NBA for walking onto the court during halftime of Game 3 to confront the game officials.
Ujiri was upset about a call near the end of the second quarter where Serge Ibaka made a basket that looked to be an and-1 but then was called off after the officials got together. Instead of a chance for a three-point play, the Raptors ended up having to take the ball out of bounds which led to DeMar DeRozan, Dwane Casey, and Ujiri all yelling at the officials.
Kevin Love came down the court after the basket was waved off, and hit a 3-pointer. That swing gave the Cleveland Cavaliers a lot of momentum and it was a huge turning point in the game.
Once halftime hit, Ujiri entered the court to give the officials a little more of a piece of his mind, and that was ultimately got him the fine.
At the end of the game, it was LeBron James who hit the game winner to grab a 3-0 series lead, and although the Raptors had their chances towards the end of the game, they couldn't make the stop when it mattered most. The Raptors seemed frustrated all game long with the officiating, but DeRozan said it best.
“I thought there were some bad calls down the stretch that all went against us,” DeRozan said via ESPN. “It still came down to a running, bank-shot, game winner by LeBron.”
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