Luka Doncic's 2nd Technical Foul in Lakers' Loss to Thunder Rescinded by NBA

The NBA announced Wednesday that it has rescinded the second technical foul to Luka Dončić from the fourth quarter of Tuesday's matchup between the Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder.

The technical, which resulted in Dončić being ejected, came after the referee believed the Lakers' star was chirping at him. Dončić, meanwhile, had maintained that he was simply talking trash to a fan in the stands.

Crew chief Tony Brothers maintained after the game in the pool report that Dončić had used "vulgar language" with an official.

The Lakers star saw things far differently.

"You can see it, how it happened," he told reporters. "I've never gotten a fan ejected, never, but if you're gonna talk, I'm gonna talk back, like always. So that had nothing to do with the refs. I didn't really understand."

LeBron James backed up that version of events.

"I don't know why the ref was taking it personal. He had already given Luka one [technical foul]. Luka knew that. Luka was going back and forth at that time with a fan that was sitting courtside, like Luka does," he told reporters after the 136-120 loss. "Fans get to talk s--t, talk out of their minds, whatever the case may be, and Luka was going back and forth and the ref took it upon himself to think it was versus him, or whatever the case may be."

The ejection completely changed the game. At the time Dončić received his second technical foul with 7:40 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Lakers held a 108-107 lead. From there, the Thunder rattled off a 29-12 run.

"It was a great game that, unfortunately, didn't get to sort of finish out the way that I think every basketball fan would want because of some decision-making on some individual's parts," Lakers head coach JJ Redick told reporters after the contest.

A win would have guaranteed a playoff berth for the Lakers (48-31), who currently hold the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference. They'll have another crack at it on Wednesday, though the main story on the night will be Dončić returning to Dallas for the first time since the Mavericks made the astonishing decision to trade him.

"There's going to be a lot of emotion for me," he told reporters. "I don't really know what to expect. I don't know how I'm going to feel, honestly. I'm looking forward to being back in Dallas, obviously, with the fans, seeing my teammates—ex-teammates. It's going to be very emotional for me, for sure."