Dallas Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle voiced his displeasure with what he termed "non-basketball physical escalations" by the Oklahoma City Thunder, including superstar forward Kevin Durant, ahead of Game 4 of their first-round playoff series Saturday night, per Anthony Slater of the Oklahoman.
Carlisle pinpointed an elbow that Durant delivered to the chest of center Salah Mejri in the third quarter of Game 3 as a prime example.
Slater passed along the longtime coach's comments about the aggressive nature of Oklahoma City's play in the series Friday:
Here's a look at the play in question:
Although the intensity level always increases markedly during the postseason, this series has been more chippy than most through three games.
There was some verbal warfare after Game 2 as well. Mavericks forward Charlie Villanueva stepped in between Thunder point guards Russell Westbrook and Cameron Payne during their pregame dance routine and later posted a Fox Pro Cast video about it (via Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com).
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Article written by Tim Daniels