Kevin Durant, Thunder unmoved by Rick Carlisle’s callout

7:02 PM ET

DALLAS — With his Dallas Mavericks down 2-1 in the series, with a minus-66 point differential, Rick Carlisle is pulling out all the stops. He’s called out the Oklahoma City Thunder for their “physical” play, and most specifically — and surprisingly — named Kevin Durant as a primary instigator.

“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 teams, the fact that that was missed. I’m concerned about that. There’s no place for that in our game.”

In the third quarter of Game 3, Durant appeared to hit Salah Mejri with an elbow to the chest, which knocked the Tunisian 7-footer to the floor. There was no call on the play, but the NBA awarded Durant a technical foul a day later, dubbing it a “physical taunt.” Durant’s response on Saturday following shootaround?

“Surprised,” he said. “I was just playing the game, man. It’s a physical game. Both teams trying to win, trying to advance. It’s a part of playoff basketball.”

Here’s how Durant described the play:

“I was trying to box out and get a rebound. And some stuff happened,” he said. “That’s a part of the game. I’m not trying to hurt anybody; that’s not my game. I go out and play basketball. They’re not trying to hurt me or my team. Some stuff happens; that’s part of the game.”

The Thunder’s Kevin …

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