Paul George Fined $25,000 for Criticizing Referees

The National Basketball Association (NBA) fined Paul George, forward of the Indiana Pacers, $25,000 for criticizing NBA referees publicly after the Miami Heat beat the Pacers 102-90 in Game 4. The Pacers are now on the verge of elimination in the Eastern Conference Finals.

In a Sports Illustrated report, George was unhappy about the huge difference in calls made by NBA officials which led to a gap of 34-17 in free throws in favor of Miami. According to George, officials in the American Airlines Arena in Miami favor the Heat which is why they are undefeated 7-0 in the playoffs. Referees Dan Crawford, Marc Davis and James Capers made more calls to put Miami players on the free throw line, as observed by George.

George said, "You can't tell me we don't attack the basket as much as they attack the basket. You can't tell me we're not aggressive. Maybe we're too aggressive. We're just as aggressive as they are attacking the basket and making plays at the rim. Maybe this was just home cooking."

George added, "Looking at the stat sheet we outplayed them. You have to give them credit, they won this game at the free throw line. They really just were able to get t o the line more than we were. I thought we outplayed them tonight." He also said, "It's just demoralizing when a game is lopsided. I'm sorry to say, but that was the case, again. How rare is it we shoot 50 percent, turn the ball over around 13 or so times, out-rebound a team and lose a ball game? ... They made 30 free throws. That put them over the edge."

LeBron James thought otherwise, "We did only have five turnovers, seven steals and 20 points off their turnovers. That has nothing to do with the free throw line," writes CBS Sports.

In total, the referees called 27 fouls against Indiana while 17 fouls were called against the Heat. Yahoo! Sports writes that Miami shot 30 of 34 from the free throw line while the Pacers shot 11 out of 17.