Mavs: ‘No place’ for cheap shots by Durant, OKC

3:22 PM ET

DALLAS — Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle really does not think Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder are nice.

Carlisle made a point to call out the Thunder — and specifically Durant — for taking unnecessary cheap shots that led to confrontations during Dallas’ lopsided home loss in Game 3 on Thursday night.

“There were four what I would categorize as non-basketball physical escalations that were initiated by them, including one intentional, unprovoked elbow at the free-throw line, which I didn’t understand,” Carlisle said Friday. “And I’ve never seen a guy like Kevin Durant ever do that to a player. Then ultimately, that led to two more escalations between the team, the fact that that was missed. I’m concerned about that. There’s no place for that in our game.”

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