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The San Antonio Spurs had a matchup against the Sacramento Kings on Friday, but they had to play the entire second half without backup big man Zach Collins who was ejected in the second quarter and did not hide his feelings towards the offending ref.
It wasn't quite clear what Zach Collins did to get ejected, but he did throw a gesture towards the ref as he exited the court. He seemingly had words for the officials following a bit of physical play with Domantas Sabonis where Collins was called for a foul against Sabonis. He received two technical fouls in that span leading to the ejection. NBA players have been fined for similar gestures, so a punishment from the league is certain to follow.
To that point, Collins had two points, two rebounds and one assist in only nine minutes. The Spurs ultimately fell to the Kings, 140-113, to drop them one game under .500 at 11-12.
This game was the third consecutive game for the Kings that saw an opponent ejected, as per Brenden Nunes of Sactown 1140. During the Kings' game against the Memphis Grizzlies earlier this week, Ja Morant was ejected and had a similar reaction. In the game prior to that against the Houston Rockets, both Ime Udoka and Tari Eason were ejected.
Zach Collins' role with Spurs
For the past four seasons, Collins has become a fairly reliable backup big man for the Spurs. The Spurs haven't been very competitive during that span, having finished with a losing record the past three seasons. But this year, the team is in contention for a playoff spot in the Western Conference with Collins playing a big role.
Collins originally signed with the Spurs ahead of the 2021-22 season. Prior to that point, he had played three seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers who drafted him with the No. 10 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft via a draft day trade with the Kings. When he signed with the Spurs, he was coming off an ankle injury that caused him to miss the entire 2020-21 season.
This season, Collins had appeared in all 22 games for the Spurs coming into the Kings matchup. He had been averaging 6.2 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists with splits of 47.5 percent shooting from the field, 34.3 percent shooting from the three-point line and 90.3 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
The Spurs have been a competitive team this season, powered by the arrival of Chris Paul and the continued development of Victor Wembanyama.
