Lakers' Marcus Smart, Luke Kennard hit with fines after calling out refs

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/smart-marcus/Q1HV4AFU/"]Smart[/a] was fined $35,000 for questioning the integrity of game officials. Smart complained to referee James Williams about unnecessary ejections.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kennard-luke/hAKYSsv9/"]Kennard[/a] was fined $25,000 for directing inappropriate language toward referees.[/p][embed guid="1b772252-d8b2-490e-9f8a-75ba98c67913" url="https://x.com/NBAPR/status/2048942851464016082?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]Both incidents took place in the moments after [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/houston-rockets/Sr9PQALP/"]Houston[/a]'s 115-96 triumph over the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/los-angeles-lakers/ngegZ8bg/"]Lakers[/a] on Sunday, which lifted the Rockets within 3-1 in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round playoff series.[/p][p]The Lakers can advance to the second round with a home victory over the Rockets on Wednesday.[/p][p]The Rockets avoided a sweep but must win on Wednesday to force a sixth game on Friday at Houston.[/p][p]A winner-take-all seventh game, if needed, would be played on Sunday in Los Angeles.[/p]