New Orleans Pelicans star Anthony Davis received the first ejection of his NBA career during Wednesday's 120-102 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves after picking up two technical fouls.
With Minnesota leading 45-43, Davis was called for a technical foul. Fifteen seconds later he picked up his second tech and was ejected for the first time in his six-year NBA career. Minnesota responded by finishing the half on a 17-6 run to take a 62-49 lead into the halftime locker room.
"That play was a hard play to officiate,'' Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau said. "Because of the size of DeMarcus [Cousins], Anthony and Karl-Anthony Towns, it can get pretty physical in there. You can probably call a foul on any play when those guys are matched up against each other.''
Davis finished with 17 points and five rebounds.
"You could feel the momentum shift [after Davis was tossed],'' the Wolves' Andrew Wiggins said. "It helped ignite a big run that we were able to outscore them.''
Cousins was frustrated with the call after the game.
"It's obvious, man,'' he said. "It's a joke. It's a complete joke. What I don't understand is that players are punished for playing off emotion or showing their emotion ... but other people are allowed to and it's totally fine.''
