The Dallas Mavericks will be without their best player in their final game of the regular season against the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday. All-Star guard Luka Doncic committed his 16th technical foul of the season against the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night and will face a one-game suspension under NBA rules as a result. Doncic was actually called up for 17 technical checks in the season but one was annulled.
Doncic got his 16th technical late in the first frame against the Blazers when he expressed frustration at not being called a foul on his heave attempt late in the quarter. Doncic felt like Portland guard Elijah Hughes made contact with him during the attempt, which you can see below:
Doncic was unsurprisingly upset about the call. “I asked him, ‘How’s that not a foul? How’s that not a foul?'” Doncic said via ESPN of what he did to earn a technician. “He hit on me. That’s unfair. That’s unfair.”
Doncic missing a single game isn’t the end of the world for the Mavericks, although their game against the Spurs on Sunday could ultimately decide whether they finish third or fourth in the Western Conference heading into the postseason. The good news for Dallas is that after the regular season, the technical foul count will reset and every player will go into the playoffs clean. It takes a player seven technical fouls in the same postseason to incur a one-game suspension.