CHICAGO – Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau was fined $35,000 by the NBA Sunday afternoon for comments he made following Friday’s Game 3 loss to the Heat. Thibodeau was critical of the way the officials handled the game, including the decision to eject Nazr Mohammed for his shove of LeBron James during their tussle early in the second quarter.
“We’re very well aware of what’s going on,” Thibodeau said Friday of how the game was called. “I’m watching how things are going. I watch very closely. What I’m seeing is … we’ll adjust accordingly.”
At Bulls practice Sunday, Thibodeau said he had no comment about the fine.
Thibodeau also said that James flopped when Mohammed pushed him, a criticism the league MVP brushed aside when he was asked about it yesterday.
“It’s kind of the same as when I heard people say that I was overrated,” James said.
“I don’t need to flop. I play an aggressive game. I don’t flop. I’ve never been one of those guys … I don’t even know how to do it. So, it’s like, OK. [That criticism] doesn’t mean much to me.”
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There was no update yesterday in the injury status of the Bulls’ Kirk Hinrich and Luol Deng. Thibodeau said that both Hinrich, who has been out since Game 4 of Chicago’s first round series win over the Nets with a bruised left calf, and Deng, who has been out since Game 5 of that series after suffering complications from a spinal tap to test for meningitis, remain day-to-day. Both, however, aren’t expected to play in Game 4 against the Heat Monday night.
tbontemps@nypost.com