NEW YORK (AP) — Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic was suspended one game without pay by the NBA for receiving his 16th technical foul of the season, the league announced Saturday.
Doncic, the NBA’s scoring leader, got whistled for a double technical foul during the third quarter of the Lakers’ 116-99 victory over Brooklyn on Friday night.
The Nets’ Ziaire Williams was celebrating an offensive foul called against Doncic by gleefully screaming in Doncic’s personal space. When Doncic reached out to push Williams’ arm, Williams responded with a backhand swipe across Doncic’s face.
Under NBA rules, a player or coach is automatically suspended without pay for one game when he receives his 16th technical foul during the regular season. For every two additional technical fouls during that regular season, they will be automatically suspended without pay for an additional game.
Doncic, who scored 41 points against Brooklyn, will serve his suspension on Monday when the Lakers host the Washington Wizards.
“He was yelling in my face three times,” Doncic said after the game. “I just wanted to get out of there. It’s a double tech, of course. What can I say? I didn’t even talk. I just wanted to get out of there. (The referee) said my push was exaggerated, which (it) was obviously not. I don’t know what else to say.”
Officials reviewed the incident before issuing technical fouls to both players.
Doncic already had a technical rescinded last week after he was whistled for a verbal altercation with Orlando’s Goga Bitadze. The league didn’t announce why it was rescinded, but Doncic said Bitadze insulted his family in Serbian — and Bitadze denied it.
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