Rick Carlisle Criticizes Kevin Durant, Thunder for Physical Play

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 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:

Rick Carlisle angry about physical altercations “instigated” by OKC. Calls out Kevin Durant for “unprovoked” elbow pic.twitter.com/KkH2lc1jpX

— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) April 22, 2016

Here’s a look at the play in question from the third quarter of Game 3:

An all-around struggle …

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