With a chance to sweep the Houston Rockets out of the first round of the NBA playoffs, the Los Angeles Lakers were thoroughly outclassed in Game 4 on Sunday. After a relatively competitive first quarter, the Lakers fell behind by nine points at halftime and then trailed by 21 points by the midway mark of the third quarter, and from there, it was a rout that resulted in a 115-96 loss.
Los Angeles committed 14 of its 24 turnovers in the first half, and during that time, Deandre Ayton played excellent basketball with 15 points and eight rebounds to keep his team in contention. But in the third quarter, he was ejected when he was called for a flagrant 2 foul for elbowing Alperen Sengun in the head.
That content was deemed unnecessary and excessive, but plenty of Lakers fans likely feel, at the very least, it wasn't an excessive act. Ayton himself explained what happened afterward.
Los Angeles coach JJ Redick defended Ayton after the game.
Even Rockets coach Ime Udoka didn't seem to agree with the referees' decision to call Ayton for a flagrant 2 foul, although he claimed the elbow was intentional.
The Lakers center ended up with 19 points on 9-of-12 shooting and 10 rebounds in 25 minutes. His teammates got him involved offensively early and often, and as he has throughout this series so far, he played good, physical positional defense in the paint against Sengun.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Deandre Ayton on his ejection in Game 4
