Clippers Barnes fined $50,000

NEW YORK — Los Angeles Clippers forward Matt Barnes was fined $50,000 by the NBA on Friday for directing inappropriate language at a courtside fan who turned out to be Houston star James Harden’s mother.

Barnes made the comments to Monja Willis during the Clippers’ Game 2 loss in Houston on Wednesday night.

“We’ve made our peace,” Barnes said Friday before Game 3 in Los Angeles. “We’ve spoken twice since the incident. She said something, I said something back. I’ve heard speculation of what I’ve likely said, which is crazy.”

Also Friday, the NBA fined Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah $25,000 for pushing a fan at halftime of the Bulls’ loss to Cleveland in Game 2 on Wednesday night.

MLB coach gets harsh punishment

TORONTO — Major League Baseball has upheld a 14-game suspension for Toronto Blue Jays hitting coach Brook Jacoby, who insists he was falsely accused and doesn’t deserve a penalty he calls “harsh.”

Jacoby was accused of pinning umpire Doug Eddings against a wall in a dugout tunnel at Fenway Park, putting his forearms up near the ump’s neck following Toronto’s loss at Boston on April 29.

MLB executive Joe Torre issued the suspension Monday. Jacoby appealed, there was a hearing Friday and the penalty stood.

In a statement released by the Blue Jays, Jacoby said he was “wrongly accused of contacting an umpire.”