Luka Doncic got a well-deserved rest for the final seven minutes of the LA Lakers’ game vs. the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday.
The rest was forced upon him by one of the game’s officials, but it was deserved nonetheless.
Doncic was ejected from the Lakers’ game vs. OKC on Tuesday, the final game before he returns to Dallas for the first time for Wednesday’s showdown with the Mavericks. Doncic, as he was wont to do with the Mavs, got a little too animated toward the referees midway through the fourth quarter and thus was handed his second technical foul of the game, warranting his ejection.
According to a postgame pool report conducted between Associated Press reporter and crew chief Tony Brothers, the former Maverick was ejected for “[directing] profanity at a game official.”
“He looked directly at an official and used vulgar language,” Brothers said
According to Doncic, however, his vitriol was aimed at a boisterous fan, not at the referees.
It’s Doncic’s fourth career ejection and his first as a Laker. He was ejected three times during his six-and-a-half seasons with the Mavericks (and once during the FIBA World Cup in 2023).
Doncic finished with 23 points, three rebounds and five assists. A 108-107 Lakers lead when Doncic got the boot turned into a rout for the Thunder, who outscored LA 29-12 the rest of the way for a 136-120 win.
If nothing else for the Lakers, it gives Doncic a bit of extra rest in preparation for what’s likely to be an emotional Wednesday. Doncic and the Lakers will have played three games in four nights after Wednesday’s showdown, and the second game of a back-to-back after the loss to OKC.
Of course there’s going to be a lot of emotion for me,” Doncic told LA reporters after Tuesday’s loss. “I don’t know what to expect. I’m excited to be back in Dallas … It’s going to be very emotional for me.”
Los Angeles currently holds a one-game lead over the Denver Nuggets for the fourth seed in the West, so Wednesday night at American Airlines Center will be big for Doncic and the Lakers for multiple reasons.
