DALLAS (AP) – Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was fined $250,000 on Tuesday for his outbursts following Game 5 of the NBA finals, and commissioner David Stern said he’s getting tired of the team’s antics off the court.

Cuban was cited for “several acts of misconduct” committed after Dallas lost 101-100 in overtime to the Heat in Miami on Sunday night. The list includes Cuban going onto the floor to vent directly to official Joe DeRosa, screaming toward Stern and a group of league officials in the stands, then using profanity during a postgame session with reporters.

The fine – Cuban’s second this postseason and 10th in 61/2 years owning the team – was announced hours before the Mavericks played host to the Heat in Game 6 of the NBA finals. Miami led the series 3-2.

Cuban said Monday he was expecting to be fined. It showed in his reaction to the penalty: “I’m fine with it,” he wrote in an e-mail. “Get the humor there. Fine with it.”

Stern said during several TV and radio interviews Monday and Tuesday that Cuban was drawing attention from the games.

Appearing Monday on “Best Damn Sports Show Period,” Stern said it was “sad for his players,” adding that “I think the pressure of his first finals may be getting to him.” On Tuesday, Stern told Dan Patrick on ESPN Radio that he thought Cuban’s conduct was hurting his team.

“I’m trying to help rather than hinder because I think it’s a team that’s been put together for the ages,” Stern said. “It’s a very exciting team and it should be the focus.”

Stern added that coach Avery Johnson also might be punished for his criticism of the league following the suspension of Jerry Stackhouse from Game 5 for a hard foul on Miami’s Shaquille O’Neal in Game 4.

“One way or the other, we’ll be dealing with everything that went on here,” Stern said. “But if I possibly can, I’m going to wait until after the finals are over.”

At the end of Game 5, Miami’s Dwyane Wade was fouled on a drive to the basket, then hit two free throws with 1.9 seconds left. Dallas wanted to call timeout after the second attempt, but a referee heard Josh Howard ask for it after the first.

An assistant coach later alerted Cuban to what team officials thought was a backcourt violation; a league spokesman noted the exact rule that explains why Wade was within the rules when he crossed midcourt at the start of the play.

Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki was fined $5,000 Monday for kicking a ball into the stands after Game 5. On the way to the locker room, he knocked over a stationary bike and kicked at something else. Nowitzki said Tuesday he understands how Cuban felt.

“He is a very emotional guy, too,” Nowitzki said. “He was upset, as we all were, about the loss, obviously the whole last sequence that went down.”

Cuban has been fined at least $1,455,000 and suspended from three games since buying the team in January 2000. The exact total of his punishment tab isn’t known because the league doesn’t always publicize action against team owners. Cuban says he matches every dollar with a charitable donation.

His biggest fine was $500,000, the most against one person, in January 2002 for comments that included saying he wouldn’t hire the league’s head of officiating to manage a Dairy Queen.

Since then, the only acknowledged fine before Tuesday came last month, when Cuban was assessed $200,000 – $100,000 for going onto the court during a playoff game in San Antonio and another $100,000 for an entry on his blog criticizing the way the league selects officials for the playoffs.

Cuban has been riled several times in the five weeks between his latest fines.

When Jason Terry was suspended from Game 6 of the Spurs series for punching Michael Finley, Cuban said he “didn’t understand it and not quite so politely, I told the league so.”

In the conference finals, he went into the stands to help his coach’s wife when she was in an argument. Third-string center D.J. Mbenga went, too, and he was suspended for six games. When announcing that, the league said Cuban was off the hook because “his actions did not violate NBA rules and were not otherwise inappropriate.”

Last Friday, after Stackhouse was suspended, Cuban said, “It makes no sense at all,” adding there were several hard hits against Dallas “all without response from the league.” He then wore a Stackhouse jersey to Game 5.

Cuban poked fun at his persona with a blog entry apparently aimed at drawing more viewers to his appearance on David Letterman’s late-night show, writing, “I already have picked out my next charity to donate to.”

Also Tuesday, Cuban posted a blog entry in response to a column in the Miami Herald that quoted him as saying, “Your league is rigged” during his tirade after Game 5.

“That’s a complete insult to the players on the court and the incredible amount of effort they put into preparing for and playing the games,” he wrote. “The NBA couldn’t rig the games if it wanted to. And it doesn’t want to. It’s that simple.”

Stern told ESPN Radio: “I did not hear him say anything like he’s accused of saying, and we were pretty close to each other.”

AP-ES-06-20-06 1748EDT