Midway through the third quarter of Game 4 between the Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets inside the Toyota Center Ayton hit Alperen Sengun flush across the face with a left elbow.
A foul was called and the officials went to check the replay. At first glance, it felt like a sure-fire flagrant one foul. It was hard, and a little reckless. But after a few minutes, the officials determined it did reach the criteria of a flagrant two foul and Ayton was immediately ejected from the game.
The officials determined that the elbow contact rose to the level of intent, not just careless, but punitive. Ayton and several Lakers players were shocked by the decision, even pleading to the officials that it was not intentional.
Ayton was escorted off the court and headed back to the Lakers locker room. Rockets’ forward Kevin Durant, who has missed the last two games for Houston, waived goodbye as he left.
The Lakers were already unraveling in Game 3, trailing by as many as 26 points. Ironically, Ayton was the lone bright spot for the Lakers offense. He had 19 points and 10 rebounds in 25 minutes before he was ejected.
Now, instead of building off the momentum of their Game 3 surge, the Lakers look ready to head back home to Los Angeles for a Game 5 at Crypto.com Arena on Wednesday night.
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