Luka Doncic grabbed headlines for the wrong reasons on Saturday as the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Orlando Magic in a tightly contested affair, 105-104.
Doncic dropped 30 points and eight assists against Orlando to lead the Lakers to their ninth straight win. However, his latest big-time performance was overshadowed by an untoward incident involving Magic center Goga Bitadze.
Doncic and Bitadze were both issued technical fouls after a heated exchange during the game. The bad news for Doncic was that it was his 16th tech of the season, triggering an automatic one-game suspension.
Doncic and Bitadze had conflicting accounts postgame regarding what was said between them during the heated incident.
Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images
The Lakers wasted time appealing the technical foul. They contested the call with the hope of having it rescinded and cancelling Doncic’s suspension.
On Sunday, the NBA announced that, after reviewing the incident, it had decided to rescind the technical fouls on both Doncic and Bitadze. This means Doncic will be available for the Lakers’ matchup against the Detroit Pistons on Monday.
“The technical fouls on Luka Dončić (LAL) and Goga Bitadze (ORL) issued with 1:19 remaining in the 3rd quarter on March 21 have been rescinded upon league office review,” NBA Official posted on X.
The Lakers took to social media a few hours after the NBA’s official announcement. While they did not react to the league’s decision, the team took the opportunity to flex Doncic’s scoring milestone.
Doncic has been on an absolute heater of late. He is the first player in NBA history to score 30 or more points in nine straight wins.
The Lakers hope Doncic keeps his streak going in their next game. They face off against the Pistons, who are currently the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Detroit has been one of the best teams in the NBA this season, but with Doncic playing the way he has lately, the Lakers will be hard to beat.
