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NBA Upholds Luka Doncic’s 14th Technical Foul

Luka Doncic challenged the technical foul with the league, but he didn’t win this one.

Luka Doncic was called for a technical foul during the Dallas Mavericks' 107-77 loss to the New York Knicks on Wednesday.

Doncic was confident it would be renounced like his previous close encounter in the game prior. Instead, the NBA opted to uphold the call, which keeps him at 14 overall technical fouls on the season. 

With the NBA's limit being 16 technical fouls before an automatic one-game suspension is administered, Doncic is getting very close to that line with 16 games left. 

Entering Friday's game against the Rockets, Doncic averaging a technical foul just slightly over every 3.5 games based on the 50 appearances he's made. Again, with 16 games remaining, he's cutting it close. 

Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks, New York Knicks, Julius Randle

Luka Doncic vs. Knicks

Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks, New York Knicks, Julius Randle

Luka Doncic Talks to Referee

Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks, New York Knicks, RJ Barrett

Luka Doncic Guards R.J. Barrett

Doncic was asked about the possibility of being suspended during an interview in late February. He made the promise to avoid the suspension. 

“It won’t come to that. That’s for sure. That’s unacceptable, I can’t do that,” Doncic said.

While a game where wide open shots aren't falling for seemingly most of the supporting cast, it can undoubtedly be frustrating. However, it's not wise to burn one of those technical fouls in the fourth quarter of a game trailing by over 20 points. 

Doncic came one technical foul away from receiving the automatic suspension last season. He was ejected after receiving two technical fouls during a 111-99 loss to the Sacramento Kings, which put him at 15 on the season.

Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks, Utah Jazz

Mavericks Star Luka Doncic

Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks, Utah Jazz

Mavericks vs. Jazz

Rudy Gobert, Utah Jazz, Dwight Powell, Dallas Mavericks, Luka Doncic

Luka Doncic Grabs Rebound

"I won't get another one," Doncic said last year when asked about getting close to the technical foul limit. "Don't worry." 

Former Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle took the blame at the time stating he set a "poor example" for Doncic by getting a technical foul of his own. Now, Carlisle is gone, and Doncic will need to cool it with the techs at some point. 

DeMarcus Cousins and Russell Westbrook used to almost deserve technical foul trackers due to how close they'd get to the limit of 16 during a given season. Doncic appears to be in that same vein at this point.

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