NEW YORK — The NBA fined the San Antonio Spurs $25,000 on Sunday for violating the league’s player resting policy — in a game the Spurs won by 26 points.
The Spurs sat DeMar DeRozan, Patty Mills and Jakob Poeltl to give them rest on Saturday night in Phoenix. It didn’t matter, as six Spurs players scored in double figures in a 111-85 rout of the Suns.
According to the league’s resting policy, teams should not rest multiple healthy players for the same game. When they do rest healthy players, it is supposed to be in home games.
Under Gregg Popovich, the Spurs have long rested players even when they are healthy, one of the reasons the league first implemented a resting policy in 2017. Teams can be fined $100,000 for violating it.
The Toronto Raptors were fined $25,000 on Saturday for violating the same policy on Friday. Like the Spurs, Toronto also was victorious, defeating the Magic 113-102, despite resting Kyle Lowry and Pascal Siakam.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.