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Grizzlies coach David Fizdale fined $30,000 for officiating rant

NBA, Memphis Grizzlies, San Antonio Spurs

Memphis Grizzlies coach David Fizdale was fined $30,000 by the NBA on Wednesday for criticizing the officiating after the team's Game 2 loss to the San Antonio Spurs.

Fizdale blasted the officiating after the Grizzlies' 96-82 loss to the Spurs on Monday night, calling the work of veteran crew Danny Crawford, Rodney Mott and Bill Spooner "unprofessional" and "unacceptable" before slamming his fist on a table and storming off.

"It's unfortunate that I've got a guy like [point guard] Mike Conley that in his whole career has got zero technical fouls and just cannot seem to get the proper respect from the officials that he deserves," Fizdale said after Memphis fell to a 2-0 series deficit. "It was a very poorly officiated basketball game."

The Spurs' Kawhi Leonard attempted more free throws (19-of-19) than the entire Memphis squad (13-of-15). As a team, the Spurs connected on 31 of 32 from the free throw line.

"Zach Randolph, the most rugged guy in the game, had zero free throws," Fizdale said after the game. "But somehow Kawhi Leonard had 19 free throws. First half, we shot 19 shots in the paint, and we had six free throws. They shot 11 times in the paint, and they had 23 free throws. I'm not a numbers guy, but that doesn't seem to add up. Overall, 35 times we shot the ball in the paint. We had 15 free throws for the game. They shot 18 times in the paint and had 32 free throws. Kawhi shot more free throws than our whole team. Explain it to me."

The trio of Crawford, Spooner and Mott have officiated more than 400 playoff games over careers that span more than two decades for each, but Fizdale was irate with their performance.

"We don't get the respect that these guys deserve because Mike Conley doesn't go crazy," Fizdale said. "He has class, and he just plays the game. But I'm not gonna let them treat us that way. I know Pop's [Spurs coach Gregg Popovich] got pedigree, and I'm a young rookie. But they're not gonna rook us. That's unacceptable. That was unprofessional. Our guys dug in that game and earned the right to be in that game. And they did not even give us a chance."

As Fizdale finished his thought, he slammed a pen on the table and stood up.

"Take that for data," he said.

ESPN Staff Writer Michael C. Wright and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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