Clippers’ Paul George fined $35,000 for criticizing officials

Clippers All-Star forward Paul George has been fined $35,000 by the NBA after criticizing the officiating crew following a loss Wednesday in Dallas.

George said after the 105-89 loss to the Mavericks that he wanted the video sent to the NBA’s league office for review after the Clippers took only 11 free throws in the game.

Forty-six drives by the Clippers led to six free throws, according to tracking data. Their free-throw rate of 6.9% ranked in the second-lowest percentile of games this season, according to advanced stats site Cleaning The Glass.

“We’re putting a lot of pressure at the rim, it’s insane that we’re not getting these calls,” George said. “But it is what it is, it’s nothing new to me. Hopefully we’ll send a bunch of clips in. League’s got to take a look at this.”

George described the conversations he had with officials Wednesday as “just a bunch of lies. Can’t go too much further than that, it’s a bunch of lies, they know what’s going on.”

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VS. CHARLOTTE

When: 7 p.m., Saturday

On the air: TV: Prime Ticket; Radio: 570, 1330

Update: Nicolas Batum faces Charlotte for the first time since being waived in November in a move to make financial room for free agent Gordon Hayward, who has helped rejuvenate the Hornets by averaging more than 20 points, five rebounds and four assists per game. Though neither the Clippers (26-16) nor Hornets have played many clutch-time minutes this season — both rank in the league’s bottom five — their results have been vastly different. The Clippers are 8-11 when trailing or ahead by five points in the final five minutes, shooting a league-low 34%, while Charlotte is 13-5 with a league-leading 56% on field-goal attempts. Hornets guard Terry Rozier has thrived, in particular, making 14 of his 24 shots (58%), 10 of his 18 three-pointers (55%) and turning the ball over just twice in 44 “clutch” minutes.