Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz (Getty Images via AFP)
LOS ANGELES – The National Basketball League has slapped four players, including three members of the Utah Jazz, with fines after a scuffle in the fourth quarter of a game between the Indiana Pacers and the Jazz on Thursday night.
Utah’s Rudy Gobert was hit with the largest fine of $35,000, and the Pacers’ Myles Turner was fined $25,000 after the pair tussled under the basket with just under four minutes left in Indiana’s 111-100 win in Salt Lake City. The league said Gobert received the largest fine for initiating the altercation.
Utah guards Joe Ingles ($20,000) and Donovan Mitchell ($30,000) were also fined for their roles.
The kerfuffle started after Turner blocked Gobert’s shot at the rim and Gobert appeared to pull Turner down to the ground. Turner retaliated by shoving Gobert in the back, which led Gobert to put a bear hug around Turner and try to wrestle him to the ground.
Mitchell and Ingles joined the fray and Gobert, Turner, Mitchell and Ingles were all thrown out of the contest.
The league said Mitchell was fined for “escalating an on-court altercation by verbally taunting an opponent,” while Ingles was fined for making “inappropriate contact” with an official.
The league also announced on Friday that Toronto guard Fred VanVleet has been fined $15,000 for an “obscene gesture” made during the final minute of the Raptors’ win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday.
The penalty was handed down after VanVleet’s celebration following a shot he made with 23 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter of a 115-109 win.
VanVleet finished the game with a game-high 32 points helping the Raptors end a three-game losing streak.