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Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook may be facing a one-game suspension after amassing his 16th technical foul of the season on Saturday against the Golden State Warriors:
ESPN @espn
Russ earned his 16th tech of the season vs. the Warriors.
If it’s not rescinded, he’ll be suspended 1 game and fined $5,000. https://t.co/v0Vr0opqSg
The NBA league office could hypothetically rescind the technical foul and give Westbrook some breathing room before the end of the season.
However, the All-Star point guard looked like he used profanity toward an official after clearly fouling Warriors shooting guard Klay Thompson. In other words, don’t expect the NBA to call that one back.
Per the NBA rule book, Westbrook should expect to have a suspension levied prior to the Thunder’s next game, which will occur against the Miami Heat at home on Monday.
Erik Horne of The Oklahoman also reported that any rescinded technical foul would have to occur before Monday for Westbrook to play.
The good news is that Oklahoma City should be the favorite against the 32-36 Heat even without Westbrook. The Thunder beat the Heat in Miami 118-102 earlier this season and are 23-9 at home.
The bad news is that Westbrook will receive a one-game suspension for every two technicals he receives throughout the end of the regular season. But the Thunder only have 11 games left after Monday, so it’s not as if Westbrook has to avoid technicals for too long before the playoffs, when the foul count resets.
Oklahoma City entered Saturday with a 42-27 record and a fifth-place mark in the Western Conference. The Thunder are safely in the playoff field but have slipped from third place to fifth in recent weeks. Still, they are just one game behind the Houston Rockets for third.
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