Kelly Oubre, Nick Nurse fined $50k for ‘abusing’ officials after controversial Clippers loss

CLEVELAND — The NBA announced Friday that Nick Nurse and Kelly Oubre Jr. have been fined $50,000 each for their actions toward officials at the end of the 76ers’ controversial loss to the Los Angles Clippers on Wednesday.

Nurse was reprimanded for “aggressively pursuing and verbally abusing” the crew of Kevin Scott, JD DeRosa and Brandon Adair, said NBA executive vice president for basketball operations Joe Dumars. Oubre was fined for “verbally abusing and directing an obscene gesture” toward the officials.

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Nurse and Oubre both apologized for their behavior following the game.

“First and foremost, heat of the moment, this is an intense basketball game, we are not perfect,” Oubre said. “The refs are not perfect. I want to apologize for losing my cool, because that’s something I work on each and every day and I try to represent God in the best way I possibly can, and that wasn’t it.

“So I just ask for forgiveness. But I saw Coach Nurse getting riled up. And if our coach is going to fight for us, and he’s going there, then I’m right behind him. But at the end of the day, it wasn’t cool. So I’ll take whatever penalties that come with that,” Oubre said.

Nurse added on Thursday that he will “try to do better” and that he has “always had good relationships” with the crew of Scott, DeRosa, and Adair.

“It’s super hard to be out there doing it. It was a really tough game. Lots of intensity. Lots of emotion. I think I am going to fight for my team when I think I need to. There’s no doubt about that.

“Do I probably need to do that in a different manner than I did last night? Yeah, of course. I don’t want to do that after the game,” Nurse said.

Scott, however, acknowledged a blown call at the end of the Sixers’ 108-107 loss, saying Paul George should have been called for a foul on Oubre’s late attempt that Leonard blocked before the buzzer.

“On the floor in real time to the crew, the crew interpreted that play as the defender jumping vertically,” Scott said. “However, in postgame video review, we did observe some slight drift to his left by the defender, George, and a foul should have been ruled.”