The Lakers rallied back from behind and came away with a 115-107 win over the Nuggets in Denver courtesy of their superstars Luka Doncic and LeBron James. The deficit blew up to as many as 16 points before the Lakers successfully made a comeback in the fourth quarter of the game.
Luka Doncic was given a technical foul during the first half for complaining to officials, which marked his 13th one for the season. He will be fined $4,000 for the same.
When a player reaches 16 technical fouls for the season, they are automatically suspended for one game. Therefore, Doncic is nearing an unforced absence from the game and also stands the risk of being fined $5,000.
The Slovenian star spoke to the media after the game and was asked if the nearing suspension threshold changes his approach towards officials in the game.
“I mean, I will try and get that one back because the only thing I said was I got hit in the arm twice, so, yeah,” said Doncic as he stood his ground on not deserving the technical foul.
Doncic is expecting a salary of $45,999,660 this season, and a $5,000 fine is like a droplet in the ocean for him. In comparison, that is approximately $110 for a person earning $1,o00,000 anually.
Hence, Doncic clearly did not really give much thought to the potential suspension and fine, instead confirming that he would be appealing the technical foul he got tonight.
He has become the subject of a lot of criticism from the media and public for being too focused on complaining to officials instead of defending. But he does not need to worry about defending when he has offensive nights like tonight.
The 26-year-old superstar finished the game with a triple-double tonight: 38 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists. He shot 12-21 from the field (57.1 FG%) and 3-9 from beyond the arc (33.3%).
Doncic had a hot hand right from tip-off as he scored 16 of his 38 points in the first quarter alone, going a perfect 6-6 from the floor in that time. He became the third player, after Magic Johnson and LeBron James, with four or more 30-point triple-doubles in the Lakers’ history.
It was the 52nd 30-point regular season triple-double of his career, surpassing Nikola Jokic (51) for the second-most 30-point triple-doubles during the regular season, still significantly behind Oscar Robertson (106).
When Doncic is playing offense like he did tonight, he does not need to worry much about what he does on the defensive end of the floor. Thus, it allows him some room to speak to the officials.
Moreover, Doncic is focused on getting wins instead of worrying about potentially missing a game. However, he should consider having a calmer approach when talking to officials instead of complaining in the middle of the play.
The Lakers improved to 26-16 following tonight’s win against the Nuggets. This is the first of an eight-game road stretch that ends just before the trade deadline in Brooklyn against the Nets (February 3).
They are now headed home to Los Angeles, but they will face the Clippers at the Inuit Dome on Thursday, January 22.
