Mavs’ Carlisle Calls Out Durant for ‘Cheap Shots’

Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle made a point to call out the Oklahoma City Thunder — and specifically Kevin Durant — for taking unnecessary cheap shots that led to confrontations during Dallas’ lopsided home loss in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series Thursday night.

“There were four, what I would categorize as non-basketball physical escalations that were initiated by them, including one intentional, unprovoked elbow at the free throw line, which I didn’t understand,” Carlisle said Friday. “And I’ve never seen a guy like Kevin Durant ever do that to a player. Then ultimately, that led to two more escalations between the teams, the fact that that was missed. I’m concerned about that. There’s no place for that in our game.”

Source: Tim MacMahon of ESPN