HOUSTON — Deandre Ayton has a simple explanation for his first career ejection.
“We’re both sweaty guys,” the Lakers center said after his accidental elbow to the back of Alperen Sengun‘s head resulted in his ejection from Sunday’s loss to the Houston Rockets.
The Lakers center was assessed a flagrant foul 2 with 5:41 remaining in the third quarter of the 115-96 Game 4 loss. It “looked crazy on camera,” Ayton acknowledged, but it was not malicious.
Ayton said he was bracing for contact against the 6-foot-11, 243-pound Sengun and Ayton’s arm simply slipped off Sengun’s shoulder and hit his head. It didn’t affect Sengun at all: he finished with 19 points and six rebounds on six-of-12 shooting as the Rockets forced a Game 5 on Wednesday at 7 p.m. PDT at Crypto.com Arena.
“I’m not no guy who is a dirty player or plays like that,” Ayton said. “If anything, me trying to play dirty, I’ll damn near hurt myself. I just hope he’s all right and they don’t think it was intentional.”
Sengun and Rockets coach Ime Udoka both said the flagrant 2 call — which characterizes an act as “unnecessary and excessive” — was “soft.” Sengun said he didn’t expect Ayton to be ejected for the play. When crew chief James Williams declared that Ayton would be sent off, the Lakers center simply dropped his head and walked to the locker room. Injured Rockets star Kevin Durant, who missed the game with a bone bruise in his sprained left ankle, waved goodbye from the Rockets bench.
“We’re proud of the way he handled it, and I think that just speaks volume about who he is and his progression,” Lakers guard Marcus Smart said. “He’s learning, he’s continuing — it probably would have been justifiable if he went off, right? But to keep his composure and stay positive, I think that’s only going to help him and this team.”
It was the first time Ayton was ejected in his eight-year NBA career. The center, to the chagrin of many in the NBA, has long been known more for his finesse touch shots than physical play. Lakers coach JJ Redick called Ayton, “a sweet, just, like, kind soul.”
Lakers coaches and teammates have tried to encourage him to increase his intensity and aggressiveness. General manager Rob Pelinka even made a custom shirt with half of Ayton’s face next to the face of a lion.
Ayton answered the call Sunday with 19 points and 10 rebounds. He was one of the Lakers’ only forms of consistent offense in the blowout loss. Outside of Ayton and Rui Hachimura, who shot six for 10 with 13 points, the Lakers were shooting 31.3% from the field in the first three quarters. They trailed by as many as 26 points as Smart and LeBron James, veterans who led the team to a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series, looked worn down with Luka Doncic (hamstring) and Austin Reaves (oblique) still sidelined.
“It’s been tough for DA,” said Smart, who had nine points, five assists and four turnovers. “We’ve been hard on him. He’s been hard on himself. You guys have been hard on him. … He’s been taking it, embracing it and trying to get better and better. Today he showed that. He came out, we relied on him a little bit more. He made plays for us.”
Ayton soon had company in the Lakers locker room after teammate Adou Thiero and Rockets guard Aaron Holiday were both ejected after receiving two technical fouls with 1:11 remaining in the fourth quarter. They got tangled up under the basket and exchanged words briefly.
Thiero, who entered the game midway through the fourth quarter when the Lakers cleared their bench, made a memorable playoff debut by scoring his first postseason basket with an emphatic alley-oop dunk over Dorian Finney-Smith. But the premature ending to his first postseason appearance was “uncalled for,” James said.
“It made no sense,” said James, who had 10 points and nine assists but eight turnovers. “… I don’t think that was warranted. Give him two technicals? The kid just got in the game.”
At the end of the physical game, players from both teams jawed back and forth at midcourt after the final buzzer. Much of the Lakers bench and some coaches approached to help diffuse the situation. Redick said he was simply poking his head into the situation the way people might turn their heads to gawk at commotion in a bar. When he determined nothing was happening, he left.
“Hilarious,” Smart said with a smirk of the postgame skirmish. “Very hilarious.”
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