Just like the rest of the NBA world, Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant is confused as hell about how Dallas Mavericks point guard Luka Doncic got his 16ht technical foul of the season. After all, the Mavs playmaker makes a valid plea to the referee about an obvious no call.
On Friday before the first quarter of their game against the Portland Trail Blazers ended, Doncic attempted a halfcourt heave as he brought the ball back up. It was clear that Elijah Hughes hit him on the shoulder as he made his shot, which should have warranted a foul.
Unfortunately, the referees didn't blow the whistle. Doncic went to Tony Brothers to ask what happened, but he instead got a technical foul. After seeing the video of the incident, Durant couldn't help but ask as well: “No foul???????”
Making matters worse for Luka Doncic, having 16 technical fouls means he is facing a one-game suspension if the NBA doesn't rescind the call. Dallas is expected to make an appeal, and they are projected to do so as soon as possible since the Mavs are playing their final game of the regular season on Sunday against the San Antonio Spurs.
The Mavs need every win they can get to get a better playoff seeding. They want to have homecourt advantage as much as possible, and since they are close with the Golden State Warriors in the standings, they have to win their final game. Without Luka, that will be a difficult task–especially against a well-coached Spurs team that has playoff aspirations as well.
As for Kevin Durant and the Nets, they will be gearing up for the play-in after climbing to the seventh seed with a win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday. Their seeding is far from being certain, though they are looking more confident than ever after winning their last three games.
For KD, though, he will certainly hope he won't be on the wrong end of an egregious no-call like what happened to Doncic. After all, referee mistakes like that could spell trouble for teams, and in the play-in where the stakes are really high, one doesn't want to be in such situation.