Pacers' Carlisle fined $35K for blasting referees

Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle has been fined $35,000 for criticizing the officiating during his team's playoff series against the New York Knicks, NBA executive vice president and head of basketball operations Joe Dumars announced Friday.

Carlisle was wildly critical of the referees after the Pacers lost Game 2 to the Knicks on Wednesday, saying New York was getting preferential treatment as a big-market team compared to his small-market club.

"Small-market teams deserve an equal shot," Carlisle said. "They deserve a fair shot no matter where they're playing."

Carlisle was fined for, in part, "questioning the integrity of the league and its officials," Dumars said.

The Pacers submitted 78 instances of incorrect or non-calls to the NBA that they felt put them at a disadvantage in Games 1 and 2, a league source told ESPN's Brian Windhorst on Thursday. Carlisle said they had decided not to send the Game 1 calls to the league office for review but reversed that decision after Game 2 had similar officiating issues from their perspective.

Indiana trails the best-of-seven series 2-0 ahead of Friday's Game 3 in Indianapolis (7 p.m. ET, ESPN).