Nothin' But Nets
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Brooklyn Nets: Game 4 controversies loom large looking ahead to Game 5

By Phil Watson

Brooklyn Nets Jarrett Allen (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
Brooklyn Nets Jarrett Allen (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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Brooklyn Nets
Brooklyn Nets Jarrett Allen (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

The Brooklyn Nets lost a contentions Game 4 of their Eastern Conference First Round series on Saturday and there is some baggage moving ahead to Game 5.

The official stance of the Brooklyn Nets on the officiating in their Eastern Conference First Round series is simply this: Stop helping the Philadelphia 76ers.

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General manager Sean Marks was fined $25,000 and will not attend Game 5 of the series Tuesday night in Philadelphia as he serves a one-game suspension handed down by the NBA after Marks entered the referees’ locker room after Brooklyn took a 112-108 loss in Game 4 Saturday.

There were several plays toward the end of the game that had the Nets’ ire up,  even after a dust-up between the teams in the third quarter led to the ejections of Brooklyn’s Jared Dudley and Philadelphia’s Jimmy Butler.

There was the shove in the back of Jarrett Allen by Ben Simmons, allowing Simmons to rebound his own missed shot to set up J.J. Redick‘s go-ahead 3-pointer with 50 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.

Bigger still was the wrap-up by Tobias Harris on a screening Allen on the Nets’ next-to-last possession, a move that (a) has been a point of emphasis by the officials all year and (b) delayed Allen’s roll to the basket long enough to allow Simmons time to get into help position.

Coach Kenny Atkinson deviated from his norm, openly criticizing the call (or non-call in this case) in his postgame comments Saturday, per ESPN‘s Tim Bontemps.

"“So the big point of emphasis this year was the wrapping, wrapping the player when he rolls to the rim. Judge for yourself if you watch the clip, but there was a clear wrap by Tobias Harris on the roll. “I am just disappointed. That was a point of emphasis on day one at the coaches’ meetings — that they were going to emphasize that at the beginning of the game, the end of the game and all season. “So how that all of a sudden doesn’t become a foul on the wrap, I don’t understand that.”"

The NBA confirmed that a foul should have been called on Harris with 12 seconds left in its Last Two Minute Report, stating in the report that Harris did restrict Allen’s freedom of movement.

That restriction allowed Simmons time to get in Allen’s path and eventually get the steal. If Allen isn’t delayed by Harris, he likely has a clear path to the rim.

Minority owner Joe Tsai tweeted out his support for Marks in the wake of the fine.

Greg Logan of Newsday, meanwhile, tweeted comments from an unnamed Nets player stating that Atkinson ripped the refs to the team after the no-call on Allen.

Marks’ confrontation with officials was over Joel Embiid again being called for a Flagrant 1 instead of the more severe Flagrant 2 penalty — which includes an automatic ejection — when he fouled Allen in the third quarter, a play that precipitated a scuffle between the teams that led to the ejections of Dudley and Butler of the 76ers.

Per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN:

No suspensions were handed down in the wake of the altercation, but Dudley was fined $25,000 and Butler $15,000 for their roles as escalators in the incident.

All of this prefaces Game 5, set for Tuesday at 8 p.m. back at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, where the Nets and 76ers split the first two games of the series before the Sixers came to Barclays Center and got victories in Games 3 and 4 to take a 3-1 series lead.

Here are three questions as we look ahead to Tuesday night.