Luka Doncic can play in Mavericks’ finale after NBA rescinds 16th tech

DALLAS (AP) — Luka Doncic will be able to play for the Dallas Mavericks in their regular-season finale after the NBA office rescinded his 16th technical foul of the season Saturday, wiping out an automatic one-game suspension.

The Mavericks, already guaranteed opening the playoffs at home, host San Antonio on Sunday night. They still have the possibility of moving up to the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference.

It was the second time this season that the league rescinded a technical foul called against the All-Star guard.

Doncic got his latest tech at the end of the first quarter of the Mavericks’ 128-78 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night. He was upset there was no foul called after he was undercut and knocked down when taking a shot from beyond midcourt.

Crew chief Tony Brothers, who issued the tech, told a pool reporter after the game that Doncic wouldn’t stop complaining.

“He started to complain to each of the officials. When I was walking toward the table, he was 15 feet in the backcourt still complaining, so he got a technical for continuously complaining,” Brothers said, adding that there was no profanity used by Doncic.

Doncic, who had 39 points and 11 rebounds while playing only three quarters, said after the game that he was just asking how the play wasn’t a foul on the quarter-ending play.

The slate is wiped clean for the playoffs, when a total of seven technical fouls triggers a one-game suspension. https://t.co/V2fkZihwAi

— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) April 9, 2022

After taking an inbound pass in the backcourt with 2.6 seconds left in the first quarter, Doncic moved by Elijah Hughes, who reached in and then appeared to stumble. That led to contact with Doncic, who was then in the air and fell on his rear end while the shot was no good.

As soon as he fell, Doncic extended both of his arms and pleaded his case to the referee closest to him. He then got up and went to talk to Brothers.