There was no coming back again for Luka Dončić.
After already having his 16th technical foul rescinded once during the team’s recent road trip, lightning did not strike twice in the same place. On Saturday, the NBA announced a one-game suspension for Luka for receiving his 16th technical foul against the Nets on Friday night.
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As a result, Luka will be unavailable for the Lakers against the Wizards on Monday.
There isn’t necessarily a “good” time to have your star player out, but given the context, this is something of a best-case scenario.
For one, the suspension is coming against a Wizards team that is arguably the worst in the league. At 17-56, they have the second-fewest wins in the NBA and, since Feb. 22, have as many games in which they allowed an opponent to score 83 points as they have wins.
Perhaps in that regard, the biggest downside to Monday’s suspension is that Luka won’t have the chance to one-up Bam Adebayo’s historic night.
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This will mean Luka will get some extended rest. With the Lakers having an extra day off between games and Luka being suspended on Monday, he will have three days off before Tuesday’s game against the Cavs.
And to that point, Luka will certainly be the freshest Laker on the court in the team’s back-to-back against Washington on Monday and the Cavs on Tuesday. His wallet, though, will be much lighter.
Once Luka picked up his 15th technical weeks ago, it was effectively a foregone conclusion he would get a 16th at some point. Having it come at some point during this three-game stretch against the Pacers, Nets and Wizards — three of the worst teams in the league — would have likely been the preferred outcome.
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Luka is still susceptible to another suspension. For every two technical fouls from this point on, Luka will be suspended. So, if he reaches an 18th technical foul, he will have another one-game suspension.
Once Luka returns from his current suspension, the team will have just seven games remaining on the schedule, so he’d have to work extra hard to pick up two technicals in that span to receive another suspension.
The technical foul count does reset for the playoffs.
Luka also has some wiggle room in games he can miss while still hitting the 65-game minimum to be award-eligible. Despite belonging in the conversation, Luka likely isn’t going to win the MVP this season. He will, however, be First Team All-NBA.
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Luka has played in 62 games this season. After his suspension, he will need to play in three of those final seven games to become eligible.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.