Doncic Gets a Technical for Throwing a Ball at a Referee Two Days After a Fan Was Ejected for It

Luka Doncic got a technical foul for throwing a basketball at a referee on Friday night, two days after he got a courtside fan ejected for doing the same thing. The Lakers still beat Portland 124-118 behind Doncic’s 53 points, but the first-quarter technical turned the most talked-about sequence of his week into an argument against him.

What happened in the first quarter?

Doncic was fouled by Jrue Holiday and fell out of bounds with 6.5 seconds left in the quarter. As he went down, he threw the ball toward referee Sean Wright’s leg, and Wright assessed the technical immediately, EssentiallySports and Albat both report. The Lakers had missed their first 15 three-point attempts and trailed by 16 in the second quarter, and Doncic had missed his first five threes. The frustration was visible before the ball ever left his hands.

Why is the timing so awkward for Doncic?

Because he had just spent the week on the other side of the same argument. On Wednesday in Sacramento, a courtside fan threw a ball hard toward referee Chelisa Painter, and Doncic confronted him on the spot. “He just tossed it really strong, the ball, toward the ref. I just asked him what the hell he’s doing,” Doncic said afterward, and the fan was escorted out with 2:35 left in the third quarter. Two nights later, Doncic threw a ball at a referee’s leg himself. The fan’s wife has since said her husband meant no harm and his chest-pass muscle memory took over, which is the same kind of explanation Doncic is now effectively offering for himself.

What did Doncic say about the technical?

He did not argue it. “Of course, today I got another technical foul, but I really wasn’t trying to. I know there are things I still need to improve,” Doncic said after the game, EssentiallySports reports. It was a shorter answer than the one he gave in Sacramento, and it landed differently: the fan’s ejection was about protecting an official, while Friday’s technical was about Doncic doing the thing he had just policed.

How many technicals does Doncic have now?

Two, after the league wiped one out earlier in the week. Doncic picked up a technical for clapping at referee Jacyn Goble during Monday’s win over Miami, and the NBA rescinded it on Tuesday after a league-office review. Friday’s technical against Portland brought his season total back to two. The number matters because 16 technicals in a regular season brings an automatic one-game suspension and a $5,000 fine, and Doncic was suspended for reaching 16 last season.

Did the technical change the game?

No, and that is the other half of the night. Doncic banked in a heave from beyond half court at the halftime buzzer, scored 20 points in the third quarter alone, and finished with 53 as the Lakers erased a 16-point deficit. It was his second 50-point game in under two weeks after his 52-point night against Utah. His 361 points through nine games passed Michael Jordan’s 347 from the opening nine games of the 1986-87 season, leaving only Wilt Chamberlain’s 472 from 1962-63 above him. The Lakers moved to 8-2 with their fourth straight win. The technical is a footnote to the box score and the headline of the week, which is the tension Doncic now carries into every game: the scoring is historic, and the discipline record keeps giving his critics fresh material.

What happens next?

The Lakers go to Detroit on Sunday. Doncic has already had a loud week with officials: a technical rescinded after the Miami game, a fan ejected at his urging in Sacramento, and now a technical of his own against Portland. The 53-point night against the Blazers, including the halftime heave, showed what the Lakers get when his frustration turns into scoring. The technical showed what they risk when it does not.