DALLAS (AP) — Luka Doncic was assessed his 16th technical foul Friday night and will be suspended for the Dallas Mavericks' regular-season finale unless that call is rescinded by the NBA office.
Doncic was undercut by Portland's Elijah Hughes when taking a shot from beyond midcourt at the end of the first quarter. After no foul was called, Doncic could be heard telling a Mavs official that he asked Tony Brothers “How is that not a foul?” before the lead referee whistled the technical against him.
After taking an inbound pass in the backcourt with 2.6 seconds left, Doncic moved by Hughes to get off the shot. Hughes reached in and appeared to stumble and make contact with Doncic, who was then in the air before falling on his rear end. Doncic immediately extended both arms before getting up and questioning the refs.
If the 16th technical is upheld, that would be an automatic one-game suspension and Doncic wouldn't play Sunday night against San Antonio. But he would be good for the start of the playoffs.
Dallas led 36-13 at the end of the first quarter, when Doncic had 13 points, eight rebounds and four assists.
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