The Mavericks want the headline out of this game to be Luka Doncic scoring 41 points with 11 assists leading Dallas to its seventh straight victory, a 123-113 statement win over the Suns. Doncic’s MVP chatter is growing louder, Kyrie Irving is playing well, the Mavericks are defending better, and with the win Dallas tied Phoenix for the No. 6 seed in the West with the chance to avoid the play-in.
However, it’s Doncic picking up his 12th technical — for “abruptly throwing the ball at the official with force” — that is grabbing a lot of attention.
Doncic was barking at the referees a lot in this game, even by his chatty standards, when in the third quarter he did this.
Did that deserve a technical? On its own, maybe not, but in the context of the game and Doncic being all over the officials for three quarters before that happened, this could be the final straw. However, Crew Chief Kevin Scott said that was not the case, here are his postgame comments from the pool report.
SCOTT: Luka Doncic was assessed a technical for the unsportsmanlike tactic of abruptly throwing the ball at the official with force.
QUESTION: Did his frequent arguing throughout the game influence that decision?
SCOTT: It did not. The result of that technical foul was from that singular act alone.
On its own, that’s a weak technical. Scott, it’s okay to allow for some context.
That makes 12 technical fouls from Doncic this season, 16 leads to an automatic one-game suspension.
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NASCAR’s Saturday schedule at Atlanta Motor Speedway
NBC Sports
Sat, Feb 24, 2024, 1:00 PM GMT+1·2 min read
Saturday will be busy at Atlanta Motor Speedway as one series qualifies and two others race.
Truck and Xfinity drivers will continue their seasons with a doubleheader at the 1.54-mile track. Cup drivers will qualify for Sunday’s race.
Six previous Atlanta winners are entered in Saturday’s Truck Series race. Full-time drivers Christian Eckes (2023 winner), Corey Heim (2022), Grant Enfinger (2020), Matt Crafton (2015) and Ty Dillon (2012) will all try to win again and secure a spot in the playoffs.
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Dustin Long,
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Six-time Atlanta winner Kyle Busch will make his first of five Truck starts for Spire Motorsports. This will be his first Truck start on the superspeedway version of the track.
The Xfinity race will feature two-time Atlanta winner Austin Hill, 2021 winner Justin Allgaier and 2020 winner AJ Allmendinger and 2023 winner John Hunter Nemechek.
Atlanta Motor Speedway
Weather
Saturday: Sunny skies throughout the day. A high of 60 degrees, no chance of rain and wind gusts of up to 16 mph at the start of the Truck race. A high of 58 degrees, no chance of rain and wind gusts of up to 16 mph at the start of the Xfinity race.
