Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic avoided a one-game suspension after his 16th technical foul of the season was rescinded by the NBA league office.
The league announced Monday afternoon that the technical had been rescinded after review, about five hours before the Mavericks’ road game against the Indiana Pacers. Dallas has lost four straight games to fall to 36-39 and 11th place in the Western Conference standings, a game out of the play-in scenario.
Doncic was whistled for a technical with 7:51 remaining in the third quarter for arguing a no-call after missing a shot on a drive to the basket in Sunday’s loss to the Charlotte Hornets. Crew chief Kevin Scott said in a pool report after the game that Doncic used “a profanity directed at the officials in protest to a no-call that was correctly judged in postgame video review.”
This is the second technical foul assessed to Doncic this season that has been rescinded. Players automatically get a one-game suspension after 16 technical fouls each season, and for every two technicals thereafter. Memphis Grizzlies forward Dillon Brooks (twice) and Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green have served suspensions due to their technicals totals this season.
Doncic also narrowly avoided a suspension the prior two years, finishing each of those seasons with 15 technical fouls. He had a technical rescinded before last year’s regular-season finale. He has had two technical rescinded in each of the last three seasons.
Sunday’s technical foul occurred two days after Doncic was fined by the league for rubbing his fingers together, in an apparent reference to money, while staring down a ref during last week’s loss to the Warriors.