Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic received his 16th technical foul of the season on Sunday in a 110-104 loss to the Charlotte Hornets, but had it rescinded by the league on Monday afternoon.
Had the technical not been taken off his tally, he would have faced a one-game suspension and missed Monday’s game against the Indiana Pacers (7 p.m. ET, NBA League Pass).
Crew Chief Kevin Scott said in a pool report after Sunday’s game that Doncic used “a profanity directed at the officials in protest to a no-call that was correctly judged in postgame video review.”
Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said he didn’t think the technical was warranted and that it should be rescinded.
Doncic was not made available for interviews after the game.
Overall, the Mavs’ postseason hopes could be slipping away. Charlotte overcame a 40-point outing from Doncic on Sunday to prevail, giving Dallas its second loss in three days to the Hornets.
The Mavericks (36-39) entered the day tied with Oklahoma City for the 10th-best record in the Western Conference but were still outside of the play-in tournament bubble because the Thunder hold the head-to-head tiebreaker.
“It’s unfortunate that we let these two games go and we have to figure out a way to stop the bleeding,” Kidd said, adding that he wasn’t pleased with the team’s defensive effort.
Kyrie Irving had 18 points for Dallas, which fell to 7-13 since the point guard was acquired in a trade.
“Losing in basketball is very frustrating, especially when we have as talented a group as we do,” Irving said.
“The desire to win has to be at an all-time high right now,” Mavs guard Tim Hardaway Jr. said. ” … The second half it was, but the same as last game it was too late.”
Overall, Doncic has been assessed the third-most technical fouls in the league behind Memphis’ Dillon Brooks (18) and Atlanta’s Trae Young (17).
