Point guard D’Angelo Russell was ejected during your Los Angeles Lakers’ 108-107 loss to the Miami Heat on Monday night following his second unsportsmanlike technical penalty. Russell is typically a reserved player on the court, so it was odd to see him be thrown off, but it happened during some intriguing calls that LA made throughout the game.
After speaking with the officials, Russell was dismissed from the game with 7:52 remaining in regulation time in the fourth quarter of the match. Russell appeared to applaud in front of the referee, and it appeared as though the team’s irritation about the night’s lack of calls culminated in a meltdown.
Crew chief James Williams broke down why Russell was granted the second technical and why he was then ejected from the game. “D’Angelo Russell received his first unsportsmanlike technical foul for an overt gesture reacting to a no-call involving a potential kick ball,” Williams said. “That earned him his first unsportsmanlike technical foul. Following his first unsportsmanlike technical foul, D’Angelo Russell subsequently received his second unsportsmanlike technical foul for disrespectfully addressing a game official with vulgarity, and per rule his second unsportsmanlike technical foul resulted in his ejection from the game.” Per Dave McMenamin of ESPN Losing Russell didn’t seem to hurt LA in the last part of the game, as they made a big comeback attempt. But the extra technical foul points that Miami received ended up mattering in the Lakers one-point loss.
“D’Angelo Russell received his first unsportsmanlike technical foul for an overt gesture reacting to a no-call involving a potential kick ball,” Williams said. “That earned him his first unsportsmanlike technical foul. Following his first unsportsmanlike technical foul, D’Angelo Russell subsequently received his second unsportsmanlike technical foul for disrespectfully addressing a game official with vulgarity, and per rule his second unsportsmanlike technical foul resulted in his ejection from the game.”
Per Dave McMenamin of ESPN Losing Russell didn’t seem to hurt LA in the last part of the game, as they made a big comeback attempt. But the extra technical foul points that Miami received ended up mattering in the Lakers one-point loss.
Russell wasn’t the only Lakers player to criticize the officials, as star LeBron James was bothered all night as well. James was frustrated with many non-calls as he drove to the basket, leading to him speaking out after the game. “I’m going over to them respectfully and telling them what’s going on in the plays and I consistently go to the line three or four times a game. Sometimes not even at all, which is weird,” James said.
“So, just got to keep driving, keep putting pressure on the rim and see if it turns. But we had some tough break calls tonight for sure. And not in our favor tonight.” Per Dave McMenamin of ESPN The team wasn’t happy about how the game was officiated, but sometimes that is just how things go. LA needs to regroup in their next game to salvage this short road trip.
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