cleveland cavaliers Head coach Kenny Atkinson was fined $50,000 after the team’s 126-113 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Saturday. James Jones, the league’s director of basketball operations, informed the community of the news via a press release.

In an official statement from the league, Atkinson was fined for “aggressive pursuit, berating and inadvertent contact with game officials.” The incident occurred with 10 minutes and 59 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Cavaliers head coach upset about Suns guards not getting called up Colin Gillespie Actively defend Sam Merrill on the perimeter.

Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson was fined $50,000 for aggressively pursuing, berating and inadvertently contacting officials.

The lack of a call infuriated Kenny Atkinson, who then began arguing with the referee. The referee awarded the coach a second technical foul and was ejected. The loss ended the Cavaliers’ five-game winning streak and handed them their first loss on a five-game road trip.

Cleveland (29-21) is fifth in the Eastern Conference standings. They were unable to replicate last season’s success, when they were among the top three seeds for much of the season.

The Cavaliers will face the Portland Trail Blazers on the road on Sunday.

Kenny Atkinson shares real thoughts on loss and eviction: ‘It was like a circus’

Kenny Atkinson was not happy with the result and lashed out at the referee in his post-match interview. The Cavaliers head coach criticized the league for allowing “circus-like” antics in his rant.

“I’m not happy. I think the game got out of hand, honestly… Certain parts of the game looked like a circus… if that’s what we want as a league. Certain characters in this league are casual and we’re not going to stand up to them. The game becomes commentary and challenges and 20-minute displays when we’re just trying to play basketball. I don’t think that’s good for the league,” he said.

He then elaborated on his thoughts on the second technical foul and ejection.

“I got technical early on to try to slow things down. We knew they were going to play super physical, but you have to blow the whistle… That being said, they were the better team. Played better. We weren’t as physical,” he continued.

The Suns were very good against the Cavaliers on Saturday. Their physicality allows them to limit the Cavaliers’ stars Donovan Mitchell To only 16 points. No player on Cleveland’s team scored more than 20 points.