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By Ryan Stano
Contributing Sports Writer
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The Los Angeles Lakers have been a really good team since Luka Doncic was traded to them just a couple of weeks before the trade deadline.
Since that move, the Lakers have become one of the most dangerous teams in the league. They have so many options that defenses have to contend with.
Doncic is a top-five player in the NBA when he is firing on all cylinders. He was playing pretty well in a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder before a bad call was made that ended his night.
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Doncic was given two technical fouls in this game resulting in an ejection. Before he was thrown out, he had 23 points, three rebounds, and five assists.
The second technical foul is what had everyone up in arms around the NBA. Doncic yelled at a fan behind the referee and got tossed because he thought it was directed at him.
Doncic was furious with the ejection, as were the rest of the Lakers players. They tried to plead with the official, telling him that he made a mistake.
It was to no avail. Doncic was ejected, and the Lakers wound up losing to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Read more: Fan Breaks Silence on Interaction That Led to Lakers Luka Doncic Ejection
The NBA has now acknowledged that the technical foul was a mistake. They announced that they have now rescinded the technical foul that was given to Doncic.
This technical foul was given at a critical spot in the game. The Lakers were down just one point when Doncic was thrown out. They ended up losing by 16.
While taking accountability for the mistake is good, this won't cheer Lakers fans up. Had they won this game, they had a chance to essentially lock up the third seed in the Western Conference.
Instead, the Lakers must battle in the last three games of the season to make sure that they get home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Doncic understands that he needs to control his temper a bit once the playoffs arrive. He can't put himself in a situation where he might even have a shot to get tossed from a game.
Since coming to the Lakers in that massive trade, Doncic is averaging 27.1 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 7.6 assists per game. He is shooting 42.2 percent from the field and 36 percent from three.
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