Los Angeles Lakers are deep into a sensational run in the latest stages of the NBA, making good merits to finish the season third in the Western Conference, and Sunday's 105-104 victory over Orlando Magic was their ninth in a row. The match was remarkable because LeBron James surpassed Robert Parish's record as the player with the most regular season games played, 1,612.
The negative part was that Luka Doncic (who scored 33 points, equalling his average of 33.4 points per game this season) received his 16th technical foul of the season, when he and Goga Bitadze from Magic engaged in a heated argument, resulting in both players receiving fouls. Doncic said that Bitadze had insulted his family, something that the Georgian player denied, saying that it was the Slovenian the one who first insulted his mother.
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Nevertheless, Doncic was given a penalty that, because it was his 16th technical foul of the season, triggered an automatic sanction for the next game. Los Angeles Lakers appealed to NBA, and the league pardoned Doncic: his suspension has been rescinded, and he is clear to play his next match, against Detroit Pistons on Monday.
Technical fouls have been a common concern in Doncic's NBA career due to his frequent outbursts, especially with referees, and this was the third time in his career he reaches 16 technical fouls, entailing automatic one-match suspension. The other two cases were when he played for Dallas Mavericks.