Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors and Stephen Curry #30 react in the second half against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 6 of the 2016 NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena on June 16, 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio. Ezra Shaw/Getty Images/AFP
Golden State star Stephen Curry and coach Steve Kerr were each hit with fines on Friday following incidents in the Warriors Game Six loss to Cleveland, the NBA said in a statement.
The league fined Curry $25,000 for hurling his mouthpiece into the crowd in disgust.
The incident prompted a technical foul and Curry’s ejection with more than four minutes left in the fourth quarter.
Kerr meanwhile was fined for scathing criticsm of the officiating during the post-game press conference.
The Warriors slumped to a 115-101 loss on Thursday as Cleveland leveled the series a 3-3 to set up a decisive final Game Seven on Sunday in Oakland.
Curry, the NBA Most Valuable Player and scoring leader, scored 30 points in the loss but stormed off the court after fouling out for the first time since 2013.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr backed Curry after the game before slamming officiating that he said allowed some players to be more physical than the league MVP.
“Let me be clear, we did not lose because of the officiating. They totally outplayed us and Cleveland deserved to win,” Kerr said. “But those three of the six fouls were incredibly inappropriate calls for anybody, much less the MVP of the league.”
“As the MVP of the league, we’re talking about these touch fouls in the NBA Finals. Everybody’s competing out there. There are fouls on every play. It’s a physical game.
“If they’re going to let Cleveland grab and hold these guys constantly on their cuts and then you’re going to call these ticky-tack fouls on the MVP of the league to foul him out, I don’t agree with that.”