NBA rescinds Lakers star Luka Doncic’s second technical foul vs. Thunder

The NBA world blew up on Tuesday night when Los Angeles Lakers superstar Luka Doncic was thrown out of his game against the Oklahoma City Thunder for picking up a pair of technical fouls.

Doncic picked up the first technical for barking at an official, as he is prone to do, but the second one was very controversial. Doncic appeared to say something to a fan after making a big basket in the fourth quarter, and a nearby official thought the comment was directed at him, which prompted the ejection.

On Wednesday, the NBA rescinded the second technical that got Doncic tossed, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.

“The NBA has notified the Lakers that it has rescinded the second technical foul on Luka Doncic from Tuesday’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, league sources told ESPN,” McMenamin reported on X, formerly Twitter.

Of course, that isn’t enough to repair all of the damage thatw as done by the decision. When Doncic got sent to the showers, the Lakers had a 108-107 lead with about seven minutes to go in a pivotal game. They struggled to keep up with the best team in the NBA from there on out, and the Thunder ran away with a 136-120 win.

This was a big loss for the Lakers, who are now out of the race for the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference and have just a one game cushion for the No. 3 seed. That is a critical spot, as Los Angeles will want to avoid being on the same half of the bracket as the Thunder and dodge playing them until the Western Conference Finals.

Despite the controversy and an ejection that really shouldn’t have happened, there is nothing that Doncic and company can do about it now. Instead, the Lakers have to quickly turn the page to Wednesday night’s clash against the Dallas Mavericks on a back-to-back.

On paper, the Mavericks provide a good opportunity for the Lakers to continue on the right track toward that No. 3 seed, but there will be plenty of emotions at play on Wednesday. This will be Doncic’s first game back in Dallas since getting traded away from the Mavs, so it will be very interesting to see how he responds and how he plays.