Even the Rockets thought Deandre Aytons ejection

HOUSTON — Deandre Ayton has a simple rationalization for his first profession ejection.

“We’re both sweaty guys,” the Lakers middle said after his unintentional elbow to the back of Alperen Sengun‘s head resulted in his ejection from Sunday’s loss to the Houston Rockets.

The Lakers middle 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 merely slipped off Sengun’s shoulder and hit his head. It didn’t have an effect on Sengun at all: he completed with 19 factors and six rebounds on six-of-12 capturing as the Rockets pressured 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 count on Ayton to be ejected for the play. When crew chief James Williams declared that Ayton can be despatched off, the Lakers middle merely dropped his head and walked to the locker room. Injured Rockets star Kevin Durant, who missed the sport 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 profession. The middle, to the chagrin of many in the NBA, has long been identified more for his finesse contact photographs than bodily 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 depth and aggressiveness. General supervisor Rob Pelinka even made a customized shirt with half of Ayton’s face next to the face of a lion.

Ayton answered the call Sunday with 19 factors and 10 rebounds. He was one of the Lakers’ only kinds of constant offense in the blowout loss. Outside of Ayton and Rui Hachimura, who shot six for 10 with 13 factors, the Lakers have been capturing 31.3% from the subject in the first three quarters. They trailed by as many as 26 factors as Smart and LeBron James, veterans who led the group to a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven sequence, seemed worn down with Luka Doncic (hamstring) and Austin Reaves (indirect) still sidelined.

“It’s been tough for DA,” said Smart, who had 9 factors, 5 assists and 4 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 when teammate Adou Thiero and Rockets guard Aaron Holiday have been ejected after receiving one technical foul with 1:11 remaining in the fourth quarter. They acquired tangled up under the basket and exchanged phrases briefly.

Thiero, who entered the sport halfway 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 untimely ending to his first postseason look was “uncalled for,” James said.

“It made no sense,” said James, who had 10 factors and 9 assists but eight turnovers. “… I don’t think that was warranted. Give him two technicals? The kid just got in the game.”

The sport featured 5 technical fouls. The Lakers’ Maxi Kleber and Houston’s Josh Okogie have been whistled for off-setting technicals in the fourth and Lakers middle Jaxson Hayes picked one up in the third.

At the end of the bodily sport, gamers from both groups jawed back and forth at midcourt after the last buzzer. Much of the Lakers bench and some coaches approached to help diffuse the state of affairs. Redick said he was merely poking his head into the state of affairs the approach people may flip their heads to gawk at commotion in a bar. When he decided nothing was taking place, he left.

“Hilarious,” Smart said with a smirk of the postgame skirmish. “Very hilarious.”