NBA Fines Dennis Schroder and P.J. Tucker $25,000
Dennis Schroder will not be suspended for his below-the-belt hit on P.J. Tucker during Game 5 of the ongoing Thunder-Rockets series. Tucker will also not be suspended for head-butting Schroder.
Instead, both men will be fined $25,000 for each of their parts in Saturday's dust-up. In a statement released by the league, Tucker's contact with Schroder "did not meet the standard for a head-butt." We've posted the video below so you can be the judge on that one.
Schroder's foul occurred midway through the third quarter when Tucker set a screen on Schroder. In his effort to fight thought it, Schroder hit Tucker in the groin. Schroder was assessed a flagrant two.
Tucker retaliated by head-butting (or something else, according to the league) Schroder, and the two were ejected. Sunday, during his media session, Schroder said, "It's just unfortunate."
"I've seen the video I went between his legs, it's unfortunate I went between his legs, but for me, it's not on purpose." ... "It shouldn't be a flagrant two."
Schroder also says that he and Tucker have been going back and forth since their days in the BBL.
"We've been on each other since 2012 when we played in Germany together."..."It's never that we're competitors; we try and go out there and compete as hard as we can."..."But, me myself, my family didn't raise me that way to hurt somebody intentionally."
Billy Donovan did not see a video of the call after the game on Saturday. Donovan was asked with everything going on the bubble the last few days are emotions spilling over to the court more than usual?
"No, I just think it's competitive basketball, and you're going to have situations like that periodically. ... I think P.J. Tucker's a hard-playing guy. ... I think Dennis Schroder's a hard-playing guy."
"You're going have times where's there's interaction, and guys can get that way."
The Thunder are facing elimination after losing 114-80 in Game 5. If they want any chance to win Game 6, Schroder will need to get over the fine and keep his emotions under control.
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With more than 20 years of experience hosting local and national radio shows, Erik Gee is a fixture of Oklahoma sports media. He has covered the Oklahoma City Thunder for the past six seasons. He is also the co-host of the Pat Jones show on 97.1 The Sports Animal in Tulsa.
