Marco Belinelli of Chicago Bulls fined for gesture

Jeff Zillgitt, USA TODAY Sports | USATODAY

MIAMI – The NBA fined Chicago Bulls guard Marco Belinelli $15,000 for an obscene gesture during the fourth quarter of Saturday's 99-93 Game 7 victory against the Brooklyn Nets, a person with knowledge of the penalty told USA TODAY Sports.

The person requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly because the league had not yet made the fine official.

Belinelli hit a three-pointer with 4:52 left in the game, giving the Bulls a 91-81 lead. After he made the shot and Brooklyn called timeout, Belinelli headed back to the Bulls bench doing the "Sam Cassell dance," a move made famous by the former NBA guard and frowned upon by the league.

With Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich (bruised left calf) and forward Luol Deng (illness) missing the final three and two games of the series against Brooklyn, Belinelli's minutes increased and he produced. He had 22 points, seven assists and five rebounds in Game 6 and had 24 points and six rebounds in Game 7.

Eddie House, then with the Miami Heat, and Josh Smith of the Atlanta Hawks were fined for the same move after they did it in games in January 2011.