BOSTON — Kemba Walker was called for two technical fouls and ejected for the first time in his NBA career as part of a chaotic sequence at the 5:49 mark of the third quarter of Boston‘s 129-114 loss to the San Antonio Spurs at TD Garden on Wednesday night.
Walker was irate after being hit with a bone-crunching moving screen by Spurs big man LaMarcus Aldridge that sent Walker flying to the floor in front of rookie referee Evan Scott, moments before Celtics center Daniel Theis fouled Spurs guard Derrick White.
After Walker got up off the ground, he turned to Scott and began shouting at him, causing Scott to call him for the first technical. Walker then appeared to say, “That was a f—ing foul, man,” causing Scott to whistle him for a second technical in a matter of seconds and eject him from the game.
Doing that caused Celtics coach Brad Stevens to scream at the officials in Walker’s defense, earning him yet another technical — this time from referee Tyler Ford.
After it was announced that Walker was ejected, a fan threw a drink from behind San Antonio’s bench — though it was unclear if they were throwing it at the Spurs themselves, or simply throwing it at the court.
A Celtics official said the fan was immediately identified and arrested.
Boston, which never led in a game in which the Spurs scored the first eight points and led 22-3 in the opening minutes, had closed an 18-point halftime deficit all the way to 76-69 on a layup by Jayson Tatum at the 6:09 mark of the third quarter before the three technicals, as well as the personal foul, were called on that play.
The Spurs then made four of the five free throws they were granted, kick-starting a 23-11 run to end the quarter that saw San Antonio go back up by 20 points and put the game away for good.
Boston has now lost two games in a row, after losing in Washington to the Wizards on Monday night, heading into its game against their Atlantic Division rivals, the Philadelphia 76ers, on Thursday night.
Source : ESPN
