Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks dropped their fourth straight game on Sunday in a loss to the Hornets — their second straight loss to Charlotte. With the loss, Dallas is now a full game out of the play-in in the West, sitting in 11th behind the Oklahoma City Thunder, who came back from double digits down to Portland to beat the Blazers on Sunday night.
With just seven games left in the season, time is running out on the Mavs to make a push for the postseason, but their task figured to be even more difficult than expected on Monday night in Indiana after Luka Doncic picked up his 16th technical of the season in the loss to the Hornets, triggering an automatic one-game suspension. After the game, the crew chief from the game explained that Doncic had directed profanity at an official protesting a no-call — which they looked at and confirmed was the correct decision after the game.
Spoke with referee Kevin Scott to see why Luka Dončić received a tech in the third quarter.
“Doncic was assessed a technical foul for his use of profanity directed at the officials in protest to a no-call that was correctly judged in postgame video review,” Scott said.
— Rod Boone (@rodboone) March 26, 2023
Given those comments from the officials, it seemed Doncic’s technical would stand and he would have to serve his suspension on Monday, but the league announced on Monday morning it was rescinding the technical.
Luka Dončić’s (DAL) technical foul (7:51, 3rd qtr) from the game on 3/26/23 has been rescinded upon league office review.
— NBA Official (@NBAOfficial) March 27, 2023
That means Doncic will be eligible to play on Monday night in Indiana, rather than having to serve a suspension for picking up his 16th T of the season. There is a fair question of why the technical was rescinded given the explanation of the officials after the game in Charlotte on Sunday, as plenty of players will be wondering if they too can get their T’s taken away for cussing out the refs. Among those is Draymond Green, who couldn’t help but point out how this was funny a week after he served his suspension for a 16th T that was not rescinded.
— warriorsworld (@warriorsworld) March 27, 2023
Doncic’s propensity to get on the officials has become a defining trait of his game, and as such that 16th T and a suspension later this season is unquestionably still in play.