Houston Rockets 16-time All-Star forward Kevin Durant and Los Angeles Lakers center Deandre Ayton were briefly teammates on the Phoenix Suns during the 2022-23 NBA season.
They were not friendly on Sunday night.
Durant’s Rockets blew out the Lakers, 115-96, in Game 4 of their first-round playoff series at the Toyota Center in Houston. Durant did not play due to a bone bruise in the sprained ankle that kept the two-time NBA champion and two-time NBA Finals MVP out of Game 3, as reported by ESPN’s Shams Charania.
Ayton started for the Lakers, but he joined Durant on the inactive list in the third quarter.
With 5:41 remaining in the third, Ayton elbowed Rockets All-Star center Alperen Sengun in the side of his face. He was controversially assessed a flagrant 2 and ejected for “unnecessary and excessive” contact.
“Lakers are shocked,” The Athletic’s Dan Woike relayed on X. “Multiple players go to argue on his behalf. Was a clean elbow to the face. Meets parts of the criteria. Hard time thinking it was intentional.”
Regardless of the foul’s legitimacy, Durant added to his legacy as one of the greatest meme generators of our time when he was seen waving goodbye to Ayton from the sideline:
Ayton, the 2018 No. 1 overall pick, departed the game as the Lakers’ leading scorer on the night with 19 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the floor, plus 10 rebounds.
Lakers rookie forward Adou Thiero and Rockets veteran guard Aaron Holiday were also ejected during garbage time.
Durant and the Rockets may have lived to fight another game, winning their first game of the series to stave off a sweep, but the Lakers are still favored to end Houston’s season at some point over the next week. At which point, while hilarious, Durant’s reaction to Ayton’s ejection will likely come back to bite him.
Charania reported that Durant’s injury would typically sideline him for two to three weeks in the regular season. Rockets head coach Ime Udoka told reporters that Durant’s “pain from the bone bruise” and “limited mobility” are what kept him out of Game 4, and intimated that Durant would not be available anytime soon.
Meanwhile, Lakers guard Austin Reaves was a game-time decision before being ruled out for Game 4. He suffered a Grade 2 oblique muscle strain earlier this month, and his availability for Game 5 remains unclear.
The Lakers are also without All-NBA and All-Star guard Luka Doncic, who suffered a Grade 2 hamstring strain on April 2. Charania reported last week that Los Angeles does not expect Doncic back in this Rockets series.
While the Rockets are without their NBA Mount Rushmore star, the Lakers still have LeBron James, 41, who is looking to improve to 33-0 all-time when his team takes a 2-0 lead in a playoff series.
This series will return to Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles for Game 5 on Wednesday night.
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