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Fans Couldn’t Believe Lightning Fast Ausar Thompson Ejection for ‘Contact With Official’

Blake Silverman

Ausar Thompson’s night ended early in Dallas
Ausar Thompson’s night ended early in Dallas / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
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Several No. 1 picks were on the floor in Dallas Thursday night as Cade Cunningham and the Pistons took on Cooper Flagg, Anthony Davis and the Mavericks.

The game marked a homecoming for Texas native Cunningham, whose night nearly ended at halftime following another heated situation where his teammate Ausar Thompson was tossed for arguing a foul call. As Thompson and Pistons center Jalen Duren fought for a rebound with a plethora of Mavs, Thompson was called for a foul after Dallas guard Ryan Nembhard came up with the ball.

Thompson took exception, presumably thinking he had gotten fouled on the play and got right up in referee John Goble’s grill and quickly got ejected him for making contact with an official. Check out the wild sequence below:

There looked to be contact between Thompson and Goble, but it looked to be incidental and certainly light at best. Fans that took notice of the play couldn’t believe how quickly Thompson was ejected following the moment:

To make the situation worse for Detroit, Cunningham received a technical just before halftime, then coach J.B. Bickerstaff received a technical of his own following a heated conversation with officials on the way to the locker room which gave Dallas a free point to start the second half. Weird scenes in Detroit as the Pistons were not pleased with the officiating in the slightest.

Thompson had eight points, two assists and two rebounds in nine minutes before his night ended early.

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Blake Silverman
BLAKE SILVERMAN

Blake Silverman is a contributor to the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in November 2024, he covered the WNBA, NBA, G League and college basketball for numerous sites, including Winsidr, SB Nation's Detroit Bad Boys and A10Talk. He graduated from Michigan State University before receiving a master's in sports journalism from St. Bonaventure University. Outside of work, he's probably binging the latest Netflix documentary, at a yoga studio or enjoying everything Detroit sports. A lifelong Michigander, he lives in suburban Detroit with his wife, young son and their personal petting zoo of two cats and a dog.

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