In the first game after winning the NBA In-Season Tournament, the Lakers fell in Dallas against the Mavericks led by Luka Doncic (33 points, 6 rebounds and 17 assists), with great success in triples (21 of 43) and with three luxury squires for the Slovenian: Tim Hardaway Jr. (32 points with 5 triples), Dante Exum (26 points with 7 triples and 17 points only in the last quarter) and Grant Williams (19 points with 5 triples).
Anthony Davis (37 points and 11 rebounds despite dealing with physical discomfort) and LeBron James (on the verge of a triple-double with 33 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists) were the pillars of the Lakers that lost after four straight wins, precisely the number of consecutive wins the Mavericks now have.
The expulsions of Draymond Green (Golden State Warriors) and Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets) were the highlight of the rest of the day in the NBA. Jokic went to the street for two controversial technicals after protesting to the referees, but the Nuggets, who did not have Jamal Murray, were able to take the game forward in Chicago thanks to 25 points from Reggie Jackson.
For his part, Draymond Green was expelled this Tuesday for slapping Jusuf Nurkic in the face in the game between the Phoenix Suns and the Golden State Warriors.
This is the third ejection for Green so far this season. With 8.23 in the third quarter, the Warriors center was fighting to gain position in front of the Suns interior when he turned around and hit Nurkic in the face, who ended up on the ground. The referees reviewed what happened and called a type 2 flagrant, so Green went to the shower early.
Green, essential in Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson's Warriors but who has a long history of very controversial and controversial actions, has already been expelled twice this season. The most serious of them was in mid-November when he grabbed Rudy Gobert by the neck with a key in a fight in the duel against the Minnesota Timberwolves, an expulsion for which he also received a five-game ban from the NBA. .
After tonight's game, which ended with a victory for the Suns (119-116), Green appeared before the media and apologized to Nurkic. "He was grabbing my hip and I was moving to try to make the referees see a foul and making contact with him. As you know, I am not one to apologize for things I wanted to do, but I do apologize to Jusuf because I had no intention of hitting him." , he said in a press conference.
For his part, Nurkic, also before journalists after the meeting, gave his version of what happened and showed his concern for Green's mental health. "What's wrong with him? I don't know. Personally, I think this brother needs help. I'm glad he didn't try to drown me... But at the same time it had nothing to do with basketball," the center said, ironically. "I'm there trying to play basketball and he's there hitting. I think we've seen it a lot, but I hope whatever he has in his life is going to get better," he added.
