Dallas Mavericks big man Kristaps Porzingis was ejected from his very first playoff game after receiving two technical fouls in Game 1 against the Los Angeles Clippers. Porzingis exited the game in the middle of the third quarter with the Mavs still in control of the contest. This ended up swinging the momentum of the game toward the Clippers. Dallas eventually fell short, 118-110, and dropped the series opener.
NBA Twitter was up in arms over Kristaps Porzingis' ejection. Heck, it even disgusted Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James. Mavs legend Dirk Nowitzki also expressed his dismay over the weakness of the ejection.
The two future Hall of Famers, as well as the majority of NBA fans on social media, are on point with their assessment: it was definitely a bogus ejection on the part of the officials.
Porzingis' second technical came after he got into a minor shoving match with Clippers forward Marcus Morris. The Latvian stepped in to back up teammate Luka Doncic after the Slovenian superstar and Morris exchanged words. After reviewing the scuffle, the refs called a double-technical on Morris and Porzingis, signaling the end of the latter's night.
Former referee Steve Javie, who now works for ESPN, explained on the broadcast that the officials made the right call because Porzingis didn't come in to break up the altercation, but rather to confront Morris. Perhaps Javie may have a point on that one, and in a vacuum, it's understandable that Porzingis received a technical foul for this one.
However, that should have actually been Kristaps Porzingis' first tech on the evening. The 7-foot-3 big man's first one was really soft and didn't deserve a technical foul in the first place.
After fouling Paul George on a layup earlier in the game, Porzingis instantly punched his hand in the air in reaction to the whistle. The referees immediately issued him a technical for his gesture. Sure, maybe punching the air in reaction to a call warrants a technical according to the rule book, but, come on, it's the playoffs. Emotions are high and every call matters. Porzingis, at least, should have deserved some room to react in response to what looked like a clean block on his part, as shown on the replay.
In the end, the ejection arguably wound up costing Dallas an important Game 1 victory. The seventh-seeded Mavs are the underdogs in this series against the star-studded Clippers. They managed to weather an early storm from LA in the first quarter. The Mavs eventually took control of the game up to the point of Kristaps Porzingis' unwarranted exit.
We'll never know whether Dallas would have held on to to fend off the favored Clippers had their 7-foot-3 star stayed until the end. Unfortunately for the Mavs, the referees never gave them that chance.
Every game matters, especially for a playoff newbie like these 2019-20 Mavs. The officials need to be smarter when it comes to assessing these kinds of calls. They shouldn't become the deciding factor, especially in high-stakes playoff games like these.
Just let the boys play.
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