The Rockets managed to avoid a first-round sweep against LeBron James and the Lakers in the playoffs tonight as they came away with a 115-96 win to force a Game 5 on Wednesday in Los Angeles. Three players ended up being ejected from the floor throughout the course of the game.
Deandre Ayton was ejected in the third quarter for elbowing Alperen Sengun and was assessed a flagrant 2 foul for unnecessary and excessive contact. Despite a third-quarter exit, Ayton was the best offensive player for the Lakers tonight and finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds, shooting 9-12 (75 FG%) from the floor.
Deandre Ayton has just been EJECTED for an “unnecessary and excessive” elbow to Alperen Sengun’s chin 👀
Good or bad call? 🤔pic.twitter.com/gg6zTFWMEe
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) April 27, 2026
Subsequently, near the end of the game, Aaron Holiday of the Rockets and Adou Thiero of the Lakers were also ejected following a tussle for the ball underneath the rim.
Aaron Holiday bumps into Adou Thiero in the paint, they keep talking to each other, and they both get ejected from the game, in garbage time (with replays) pic.twitter.com/7CfdGber54
— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) April 27, 2026
Following the game, LeBron James spoke to the media to address the officiating tonight. While James initially threw shade at the officials for overestimating Ayton, he also voiced his unhappiness in reference to the incident with Thiero and Holiday.
“I know what I saw. I think he was bracing for Sengun on the post-up. Getting ready for contact with his elbow, and you can see his arm slipped and hit him in the head.”
“The refs said they didn’t see it that way, so they made the call. You’ve got to be really good to elbow somebody like that on purpose,” said James initially while throwing shade on the officials.
There was a small back-and-forth between Lakers players and officials at the end of the game. When James was asked about that, he took the chance to defend the Lakers’ rookie, Adou Thiero.
“I don’t know what that was about. I’m more pissed off about them kicking Adou out. That was uncalled for, and it made no sense. Think that’s his first time he’s ever been thrown out of a game in his life.”
“I don’t think that was warranted. Give him two technicals, the kid just got in the game, that was ridiculous,” concluded James on Thiero’s ejection.
James struggled to find any consistency tonight and finished the game with 10 points, nine assists, and four rebounds while shooting 2-9 from the field (22.2 FG%) and missing all three of his shot attempts from beyond the arc.
Subsequently, the Lakers’ head coach, JJ Redick, also voiced his concerns with the officials at this postgame press conference.
“I didn’t get a great explanation on Adou. I’m sure James will give you that,” said Redick initially on Thiero getting tossed.
“DA, he’s got such a sweet, kind soul. No, that wasn’t dirty or intentional. He was trying to brace himself with that off arm against Sengun’s body, and it looked like his arm just kind of slipped. Obviously, it hit him in the head, but I don’t think DA would ever do anything malicious,” he further added.
Marcus Smart also addressed the media and remarked on the officiating tonight. He called them out for being on “some BS” tonight.
“It probably would have been justifiable if he went off, right? But, to keep his composure and stay positive, I think that’s only going to help him and this team,” said Smart.
So it is a natural thing for the losing team to be unhappy with officials, as some would say they need someone to blame their loss on. But if the winning team also agrees with them, then it should ring alarm bells for the league to look into accountability for the officials.
Tonight, even Alperen Sengun and Ime Udoka agreed that while the flagrant foul was warranted, it did not deserve a flagrant 2 ejection.
“It looked intentional. I was surprised it was a flagrant 2. But that’s the NBA nowadays, and they call it a little softer than they used to,” said Udoka after the game on Ayton’s ejection.
“I don’t want the officials to be crazy, but I didn’t expect them to eject Ayton, to be honest. I think it was a little bit soft. They [officials] were telling me you go to the floor every time, but you didn’t go this time. I said I am not going to the floor today, I will die over here and not drop on the floor,” said Sengun on his opinion of Ayton’s flagrant 2.
Clearly, when it is not just the one who was ejected that has the problem with the officiating, then something is clearly going wrong. Even the winning team calling their favorable calls soft should indicate to the league office the rising need for accountability for the officials.
James Williams, the official who ejected the three players today, is the same official who was called out by Devin Booker a few days ago. And even then, it was highlighted that officials need to be held accountable. Hence, the teams are clearly indirectly urging the league office to do something about this.
Do you think that, since officiating is done by humans (with a lot of technological help, mind you), there will always be room for error? And until the day artificial intelligence replaces officiating, should they be allowed to continue officiating without penalty? There are a lot of questions that the league office needs to look into during the offseason.
