Trae Young fined $20,000 for yelling at referee over late no-call vs Mavericks

The Atlanta Hawks lost against the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday (Friday IST). After their 13th loss of the season, the Hawks are placed eighth in the East right now. Their game against the Mavericks was neck-to-neck, which they ended up losing, 117-118. Trae Young, however, was not too happy in the end, getting fouled at the end after protesting a no-foul call. 

Also read | Mavericks owner Mark Cuban lashes out at popular reporter for calling Luka Doncic 'whiner'

Hawks star Trae Young yells at referee, gets fined $20,000

On the final possession of the Hawks 117-118 loss, Young stormed onto referee Josh Tiven – protesting a non-call. Young was sent to the floor, blocking Mavericks' Willie Cauley-Stein before an inbound pass – which did not get him the ball like originally planned. 

"I'm not going to run away from the ball with four seconds left and we're trying to win the game," Young said after the game, posting 25 points and 15 assists. He added that overall, it was a frustrating situation – not being able to have the opportunity to make one last play and attempt a win. 

As per reports, Tiven said that Cauley-Stein's contact was 'deemed incidental'. The conclusion was drawn after observing the footage after the game. Tiven, the crew chief, told a pool reporter that the contact from Cauley-Stein was "deemed incidental," so he didn't blow his whistle. Tiven said that the officiating crew came to the same conclusion after reviewing the video of the play after the game.

Hawks head coach Llyod Pierce agreed with Young. Later, Pierce added that it was unfortunate it ended like that, not agreeing with the no-foul call. Pierce believed it was a perfect screen, explaining that 'Cauley-Stein ran Trae over' – which makes it a foul. "It's why Trae was on the floor. It blows up our play. It's unfortunate". 

Also read | Trae Young scores 41 points, Hawks beat Washington 116-100

Trae Young fined

Hawks star Trae Young has been fined $20,000 for “directing inappropriate language toward a game official” at the end of last night’s loss to the Mavs, the NBA announced.

— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) February 12, 2021

Causley Stein maintained that he did not even see Young. "He's a smart kid. He was trying to get a quick, little foul to shoot free throws and ice the game". He added that in the end, it was a good try, calling it 'sneaky'. 

Young, however, reacted to Causley-Stein. As per the 22-year-old, his explanation itself makes it a good screen. "Like he said, he didn't see me. He turned around and ran right into me". 

As expected, fans debated over the matter on social media. Some believed it was clearly a Trae Young foul, while others sided with the Mavericks. Some even got personal over the teams as Mavericks fans reminded Hawks fans that Luka Doncic and his team made it to the playoffs last year. 

Also read | "You pick your poison," - Pierce on opponents trying to defend Trae Young

Trae Young stats: Hawks vs Mavericks

Doncic dropped 28 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds for his team. Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 16 points, 13 of them in the final period. Now, the Mavericks have won three in a row. John Collins had 33 points for the Hawks, who have now lost four out of their last five encounters. Kevin Huerter scored a season-high 23 points. 

Also read | Luka Doncic has triple-double, Mavs beat Hawks 118-117

(Image credits: AP)