NBA office: No punishment for fallout from Mavericks-Nuggets incidents on, off the court

NBA: ‘Matter is closed’ on Mavs-Nuggets incidents

DENVER — The NBA won’t punish anybody over the ugly incidents that occurred on and off the court in Games 3 and 4 of the series between the Dallas Mavericks and Denver Nuggets.

“Matter is closed,” league spokesman Tim Frank told The Associated Press via e-mail Wednesday before Game 5 tipped off in Denver.

The Nuggets captured Game 3 on Saturday on Carmelo Anthony’s 3-pointer with a second left after a non-call that the league later admitted was a mistake.

The disputed ending triggered a heated reaction after the buzzer, with Dallas forward Josh Howard being restrained and Mavs owner Mark Cuban expressing his frustration and then telling the mother of Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin who was seated nearby that her son was a thug.

Martin had been fined earlier in the series for a hard foul on Dallas star Dirk Nowitzki.

Cuban later said on his blog that he was sorry for the way Martin’s mother was treated. The Nuggets viewed the apology as disingenuous because it contained an offer for their family and friends to sit in Cuban’s private suite “when the series returns to Dallas.”

Cubans’ antics may have incited fan misbehavior in Game 4 on Monday night as insults were hurled at Martin’s girlfriend, rap star Trina, and Martin’s mother.

Anthony’s fiance, LaLa Vazquez of MTV fame, said fans hurled racial slurs and ice cubes at her during the game and she had to send her 2-year-old son back to the hotel early and was preparing to leave early herself when she was pushed by a fan.

“Obviously the playoffs games bring out the best and the worst in fans but what happened on Monday night with the racial slurs/threats, verbal attacks on my son and physical attacks to myself by irate fans was unacceptable,” Vazquez said in a statement. “The fans were totally out of control. What the (television) cameras captured was me defending myself and didn’t show the abuse that was taking place.”

At Denver’s shootaround Wednesday morning, Anthony said: “I think what they did was inappropriate out there.”

In Game 4, Anthony received a technical foul for an open-handed swipe at Antoine Wright after the two became tangled up underneath the basket.

As fans became frenzied, Martin — who before the game vowed to handle matters with Cuban himself — went to make sure his mother was OK. Anthony’s fiance later left her seats with security protection.

After the game, Martin and Cuban exchanged words.

On Wednesday, Anthony said the Nuggets were centered on closing out the series and advancing to their first Western Conference Finals in 24 years.

“I’m focusing on the basketball game,” Anthony said. “As long as my family’s all right, Kenyon’s family is OK, everybody’s family on the Denver Nuggets is OK, we’re fine.”

Cuban is skipping Game 5 to attend an awards ceremony in Las Vegas.

“Believe me, I’m not going to miss Cuban,” Anthony said, smiling.

Asked what he made of Cuban’s behavior, Anthony said, “That’s just the way Mark Cuban is. It’s not the first time he did something like that. He’s been like that since he became an owner. You can’t knock him for that. He’s rooting for his team, he’s cheering for his team. What he did was unacceptable, but that’s neither here nor there.”

However, he thought Cuban’s apology should have been face-to-face.

“You should approach anything man-to-man,” Anthony said. “He did it — it’s over with. We ain’t got no choice but to accept his apology.”

The Dallas players have grown accustomed to the buzz that surrounds Cuban.

“Nothing he does surprises us,” Jason Terry said. “He draws a lot of attention. He is active in voicing his opinion and showing his care and love for the team. So anytime you do that, you’re going to put yourself out there.”

AP Sports Writers Jaime Aron in Dallas and Arnie Stapleton in Denver contributed to this report.