DALLAS — Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic will be suspended for the final game of the regular season on Sunday unless the technical foul called against him after the first quarter is rescinded by the NBA office on Friday night.
It was officially Doncic’s 16th technical foul of the season, leading to an automatic one-game suspension. Doncic had another technique this season that was rescinded after a routine review by the league office.
Sunday’s game against the San Antonio Spurs could determine whether the Mavs get the third or fourth seed in the Western Conference. Dallas entered the night one game behind the Golden State Warriors and clinched the tiebreaker.
Doncic was upset that a foul was not called on his half-court attempt late in the first quarter, when the Mavs led 36-13 over the Portland Trail Blazers. Doncic was pushed from behind by Portland’s Elijah Hughes on the play and pleaded his case to referee Tom Washington with his back turned.
After getting up, Doncic walked across the court to talk to crew chief Tony Brothers, though Dallas forward Dorian Finney-Smith tried to stop him. Brothers called Doncic in for a tech seconds later.
“I asked him, ‘How is that not a foul? How is that not a foul?'” Doncic said, offering an explanation to a Mavs official sitting in the media row. “He cheated on me. That’s unfair. That’s unfair.”
Brothers ejected Mavs coach Jason Kidd in Dallas’ road loss to the Washington Wizards on April 1, calling Kidd out for two quick technicals.
“Tony, he kicked me out as a player and now he’s kicked me out as a coach,” said Kidd, who had not been ejected this season. “What I said to him was: ‘Whose ball is it?’ And he took it personally, unfortunately, and he kicked me out.”
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Doncic will lose a game for 16th technical foul