Referees are supposed to keep order and diffuse a situation but coach Rick Carlisle accused referee David Jones of entering the Dallas Mavericks’ huddle during a timeout and baited Deron Williams into a technical foul.
“For the first time in a 33-year NBA career, I saw a referee make a point of going out of his way and walking into our huddle and baiting one of our guys into getting a technical,” Carlisle said after Wednesday’s 102-96 loss to the Detroit Pistons, which extended the Mavs’ losing streak to a season-worst four games. “I’ve never seen anything like that in my years in this league. I don’t see how that can ever be excusable.”
After Jones approached the Mavs’ huddle, he said something to Williams and walked away. Williams then took a few steps toward Jones and said, “What’s up?”
Williams was whistled for the technical foul at that point, with 7:33 remaining in the third quarter.
Detroit’s Reggie Jackson missed the free throw, so the technical did not impact the outcome of the game, but Carlisle brought it up without prompting during his postgame news conference.
“I made a decision about 10 years [ago] in my career that I wasn’t going to comment about officials,” Williams said. “Save my money. I already got a technical. That’s money right there, so I’m not going to comment any further and risk any more money.”
– ESPN
