The Golden State Warriors' Draymond Green, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant have all been fined by the NBA today for criticizing NBA officials on social media and during their post-game interviews. Of the three, Green was fined the most - $35,000. Meanwhile, Curry was fined $25,000 and Durant $15,000. The fines stem from various points during and following Golden State's 131-130 overtime loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on March 29. The trio of Warriors were particularly annoyed with official Marat Kogut, who Durant and Curry dubbed the “MVP of the night” and “the best player on the floor" after the loss in Minnesota. Draymond posted a pair of tweets, "TD" and "MK," which were clearly a reference to Kogut and disgraced NBA official Tim Donaghy. The NBA's official statement on the matter reads: "Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green has been fined $35,000 for making statements on social media which impugned the integrity of NBA officiating; Warriors guard Stephen Curry has been fined $25,000 for his actions and public statements impugning the integrity of NBA officiating; and Warriors forward Kevin Durant has been fined $15,000 for public criticism of the officiating, it was announced Tuesday by Kiki VanDeWeghe, Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations." The first place Warriors (52-24) will host the second place Denver Nuggets (51-25) tonight in a pivotal matchup that could determine home court throughout the Western Conference playoffs. Tonight's game, airing on TNT, is scheduled to tipoff at 10:30pm ET.<doc-sep>Stacy Bengs/Associated Press The NBA fined Draymond Green $35,000, Stephen Curry $25,000 and Kevin Durant $15,000 on Tuesday for their criticism of officials following Friday's loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Referees Marat Kogut and Leon Wood drew the ire of the Warriors bench for two calls that ultimately helped give the Timberwolves a 131-130 overtime victory. The first came with 4.4 seconds left in overtime, when Kogut said Keita Bates-Diop fouled Kevin Durant before he took a game-tying three. At first, Durant appeared to set up a four-point play that could have won the game for Golden State. "If you look at the play ... [Bates-Diop] lost me for a quick second," Durant told reporters. "And when I caught the ball, I knew they were going to foul. And I got it up quick, and he had two hands on me as I was going into my shot. ... [Kogut] was the best player on the floor. He's so good with his whistle, he knew they were going to foul me before I shot the ball. So he's one of the greatest refs of all time." Stephen Curry knocked down a three on the Warriors' ensuing possession to tie the game at 130, but another whistle then handed the game to Minnesota. Wood called Durant for a touch foul on Karl-Anthony Towns as the Wolves attempted to inbound the ball, sending him to the line for game-winning free throws. "It's just tough when your effort like that gets sabotaged for sure," Curry said. "I've been back there looking at those calls over and over and over again and still don't understand either one of them. KD four-point play which puts pressure on them with four seconds left to have to get a bucket. "And at the end of the game, nobody wants to see a game end like that. A crazy pass that had no chance of being caught and a soft foul that should never have been called to decide the game like that. Guys out there fighting their ass off to play and compete and win the game by playing basketball, so it's a tough way to go out." Video Play Button Videos you might like Curry called Kogut the "MVP of tonight" when asked which of the calls he found more egregious. Green's criticism was more subtle, but the league slapped him with the biggest fine. The Warriors forward tweeted out the initials of Kogut and former ref Tim Donaghy, not-so-subtly implying the game was fixed: "All you need is one time," Durant said of the foul call. "All you need to see it is once. I mean, late in the game, can you be physical that late in the game? I didn't extend my arms on the push; I didn't grab; I didn't impede anybody's movement. Plus the ball was already out of bounds. I mean, would you call that one late? Nah. My little brother probably wouldn't have called that one; they need to just let us play. They should've let us play. We should still be playing right now." The loss put the Warriors back into a tie with the Denver Nuggets for first place in the Western Conference. Golden State holds the tiebreaker, but with a matchup against Denver coming Tuesday, those calls could wind up playing a huge factor in which team gets home-court advantage in a potential Western Conference Finals showdown.<doc-sep>
A trio of Golden State Warriors starters were hit with fines by the NBA on Tuesday. Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, and Draymond Green were all fined for criticizing the league's officials following the team's 131-130 loss to the Timberwolves in Minnesota last Friday night. Green was fined the most at $35,000, despite the fact that his apparent infraction came via a pair of cryptic messages on Twitter, while Curry's fine was $25,000, and Durant's was the least at $15,000 following the public comments made by the two after their loss in Minnesota. From the NBA: "Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green has been fined $35,000 for making statements on social media which impugned the integrity of NBA officiating; Warriors guard Stephen Curry has been fined $25,000 for his actions and public statements impugning the integrity of NBA officiating; and Warriors forward Kevin Durant has been fined $15,000 for public criticism of the officiating, it was announced Tuesday by Kiki VanDeWeghe, Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations. The NBA's investigation into this matter included the review of player conduct that took place through Sunday, March 31, and the ultimate findings were determined after verifying all available information. The actions of all three players occurred at various points during and following the Warriors' 131-130 overtime loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on March 29 at Target Center." You can see the comments from Curry and Durant below: Green's Tweets - which seem to compare referee Marat Kogut to disgraced former NBA ref Tim Donaghy, who was busted for betting on games - can also be seen below: It's rare that you see three players on the same team all get fined for criticizing the refs at the same time, but the Warriors clearly felt very strongly about the way that their loss to the Wolves was officiated. We'll find out soon enough whether or not these fines change the way the Warriors' three stars interact with the officials when they take the floor on Tuesday night for their highly-anticipated matchup with the Denver Nuggets (10:30 p.m. ET -- Watch on FuboTV with NBA League Pass add-on). Should the Warriors come out on top this evening, they will all but assure themselves of securing the top seed in the Western Conference playoffs while a victory by the Nuggets could make things much more interesting over the course of their remaining regular season schedules.