DENVER (AP) - Denver Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin was fined $25,000 by the NBA for knocking Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki to the court in the opener of their second-round playoff series.
Martin was also assessed a flagrant foul 1 for the contact, which occurred with about 6 minutes left in the first quarter of Sunday's game, after Nowitzki had scored Dallas' first 10 points on 5-for-5 shooting.Nowitzki said after the game he didn't have a problem with the foul, calling it "just a hard playoff foul."
Rex Chapman, the Nuggets' vice president of player personnel, didn't think the penalty fit the offense.
"I feel that fining Ken was a bit excessive and inconsistent with the punishments and penalties for flagrant fouls thus far in these playoffs," Chapman said in an e-mail.
Soon after learning of the fine, Chapman contacted NBA executive vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson to voice his opinion.
"He listened," Chapman said. "That said, it is not a democracy with the league office when it comes to these types of things. We will accept their decision and move forward."
After making his first six shots, Nowitzki was hounded by the Nuggets' rotation of Martin, Chris Andersen and Nene and went 6 of 16 the rest of the way to finish with 28 points in Dallas' 109-95 loss.
The fine was announced after the teams had finished practice and left the Pepsi Center on Monday.
"They really made me work for everything I got," Nowitzki said following the game. "They have a lot of good bodies they can throw at me. And they do a good job of rotating and staying down and playing physical."
Martin knocked down Nowitzki with a shoulder bump when the All-Star tried to go baseline, drawing a technical foul.
Nuggets coach George Karl didn't see the foul Sunday because he had turned to talk to a player on his bench, but "it looked good on film," he said Monday.
Over his career, Martin has been known for his physical play. That was on display in the Nuggets' thumping of New Orleans in the first round when Martin thoroughly flustered All-Star forward David West.
Before the series, Martin said he was going to do everything in his power to perturb Nowitzki.
"Hold him, grab him, push him, whatever you can do," cracked Martin, noting players are allowed six fouls for a reason.
The Mavericks said Monday they needed to match the Nuggets' aggressive nature in Game 2.
"We've got to raise our level of intensity and play more physical and play through some stuff," Nowitzki said. "If you turn the ball over in this gym it's basically a layup or a dunk. And that gets the crowd involved, that gets them pumped up.
"We've got to be more ready for a physical game than we were."
