NBA fines Bryant $45,000 for contact with official

NEW YORK (AP) — The NBA fined Washington Wizards center Thomas Bryant $45,000 for repeatedly making inappropriate contact with an official the league announced Saturday.

Bryant, who received a technical foul as part of the incident, was aggressively attempting to confront Detroit Pistons forward Blake Griffin, who had committed a Flagrant Foul 1 against Bryant on the play.

The incident occurred with 8:42 remaining in the third quarter of Washington’s 97-86 preseason loss to Detroit on Thursday night.

The two teams will play again Saturday night.