Johnson fined $25,000 by NBA

Mavericks coach Avery Johnson was fined $25,000 by the NBA today for failing to leave the court in a timely manner and for verbal abuse of a game official during Friday night’s 111-107 loss at Indiana.

Specifically, Johnson confronted official Bennett Salvatore after Devin Harris wasn’t awarded a shooting and/or clear path foul with 8:34 left in the fourth quarter. Harris appeared to be in a shooting motion in midair at the basket when Pacers forward Mike Dunleavy grabbed his right arm and pulled Harris down.

A foul was called, but it didn’t result in free throws for Harris. A similar play involving Jason Terry occurred a few minutes earlier with the same result.

Those incidents were enough to get Johnson going. He charged Salvatore, breaking away from Harris and other Mavs personnel before being restrained. Johnson picked up his first two technicals and first ejection of the season.

Salvatore has a checkered history with the Mavs. At least that’s the perception. He was the official who called the “phantom” foul against Dirk Nowitzki that led to Dwayne Wade’s free throws to win Game 5 of the 2006 NBA Finals, giving Miami a 3-2 series lead.

Another official in that game, Joe DeRosa, was on the floor in Saturday night’s loss at Milwaukee. The Bucks went to the line 41 times. The Mavs just 17.

Perhaps it’s a coincidence. But the incidents involving Salvatore and DeRosa do raise the question once again of referee bias, especially within the Mavs inner circle. There’s certainly a level of suspicion regarding certain officials when they call Mavs games.

The NBA would claim otherwise. But it’s also no secret the Mavs haven’t had the best relationship at times with the league office, particularly executive vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson and director of officials Ronnie Nunn.