Clippers head coach Doc Rivers ripped referee Ken Mauer for giving him what he felt was an unwarranted technical foul that led to an ejection.
Rivers was ejected with under 20 seconds left in overtime of the Clippers’ loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night. The Clippers coach had a dispute with referee Lauren Holtkamp over a foul called on the Clippers following an inbounds play, but the two settled things. That’s why Rivers was so perplexed when Mauer came out of nowhere and gave him a technical foul.
“I thought it was an awful tech," Rivers told reporters after the game. "I think you guys know why the tech was called. The official who had nothing to do with the play thought I was yelling at Lauren (Holtkamp). And I wasn’t. Actually she said you’re right, let’s walk back."
Rivers exploded after being given the technical foul and told Mauer he was wrong (video here). Mauer then gave Rivers another tech, resulting in the coach’s ejection.
“I don’t think an official that has nothing to do with the play should be giving someone a tech. That’s my thing. That’s why I got upset. He didn’t know what we were talking about. It wasn’t even an argument,” said Rivers.
Rivers also predicted to the media how the NBA will justify the ejection on Wednesday.
“The league’s going to fall back on the ‘you crossed half-court.’ And we’re all going to know that’s not the real reason.”
Rivers rarely loses his composure in the manner that he did on Tuesday night, so you know something had to be amiss. His account of what happened certainly explains his reaction.
The Clippers went on to lose the game 127-122 in double-overtime.
More must-reads: