Severity of Penalties Angers 76ers, Pacers

The Philadelphia 76ers are insulted by the NBA’s decision to fine the franchise $50,000 over two flagrant fouls by center Matt Geiger, General Manager Billy King said Sunday in Indianapolis.

The league decided to fine the 76ers in addition to the two-game suspension and $20,000 fine it issued Geiger for his fouls Saturday against Reggie Miller of the Indiana Pacers in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Miller was suspended for one game and fined $5,000.

“The league is saying that myself, the organization, [Coach] Larry Brown and [owner] Pat Croce are irresponsible,” King said. “I take that as a personal insult to myself, Pat and Larry.”

King said that in the three years the trio have been with Philadelphia, they have “never condoned anything like this.”

“Larry Brown and I and Pat Croce, if you go back and look at our track record, we’ve never condoned any violence,” King said. “What Matt did was unfortunate, uncalled for . . . but to fine us and say we’re reckless is absolutely ridiculous.”

Brown said he was depressed over the fine.

“We don’t have a history over doing things like that,” he said. “I take it personally, as well as Pat.”

In his decision to fine the team, NBA Vice President Rod Thorn said “teams and coaches will be held accountable for the reckless actions of their players.”

Brown said such accusations were unfair.

“Just pointing a finger and saying we have no control over our players, and don’t respect the game or the league, and we’re trying to hurt people, I’m really disappointed about that,” Brown said.

Donnie Walsh, the Pacer president, was unhappy with Miller’s suspension.

“We disagree with the ruling because it benefits the wrongdoer and encourages this type of provocation. The Philadelphia player intentionally tried to take Reggie out on two occasions,” he said. “When Reggie retaliated--only after the second provocation--the end result was that we lost our best player, not only for that game, but for the next one too. So it worked.”

Miller reacted to the second foul by striking Geiger with an open hand.

“While Reggie literally violated the rules by pushing the Philadelphia player in the face, any balance of equities would not produce this decision,” Walsh said. “We think this sends the wrong signal in the future and is not in keeping with the spirit of the rule.”

Pacer Coach Larry Bird said Miller’s reaction wasn’t anything he hadn’t seen many times in his 13-year playing career and three years as a coach.

“Reggie didn’t throw a punch. It really was a pushing foul in his face. It really wasn’t a big deal. It was a typical NBA lovefest out there,” Bird said.