Rick Carlisle did some proactive censoring — of himself — Sunday.
The Dallas Mavericks head coach hasn’t been a big fan of the officiating in his team’s first-round NBA playoffs series with the Houston Rockets. Carlisle also is sick of being fined for expressing his opinion on the referees, so he’s doing all he can to make sure he doesn’t shoot off at the mouth and eventually get fined.
That’s why following his team’s win Sunday, Carlisle went to the podium with a prop. Ultimately, he was asked about the officiating, which is when the coach went into his bag of tricks and pulled out a piece of tape.
Brilliant. Not only does Carlisle potentially save himself from a fine, he also still gets the message across (though he did force it just a bit). The Mavericks still have some work to do, though, as Sunday’s win was the Mavs’ first of the series, and they now trail Houston 3-1.
