Following a lengthy replay review, the officials ruled that Doncic made “an aggressive strike to the groin area” of Cavs guard Collin Sexton, justifying the flagrant 2 ruling. The incident occurred when Doncic and Sexton were battling for rebounding position with 10:05 remaining in the first half. “After I saw the video, I knew I hit him, but it wasn’t nothing on purpose,” said Doncic, who had 15 points, five rebounds and five assists before being ejected. “I think that kind of stuff happens a lot in games, but I don’t know. That’s my explanation. It obviously wasn’t on purpose. It was just two guys fighting for a rebound, I guess.”
Collin Sexton Rumors
All NBA Players
Position: G
Born: 01/04/99
Height: 6-1 / 1.85
Weight:190 lbs. / 86.2 kg.
Salary: $4,991,880
Born: 01/04/99
Height: 6-1 / 1.85
Weight:190 lbs. / 86.2 kg.
Salary: $4,991,880
Luka Doncic ejected for striking Collin Sexton below the belt
Tim MacMahon: Luka Doncic got ejected vs. Cavs — flagrant 2 for “an aggressive strike to the groin area” of Collin Sexton. That does not count toward Doncic’s technical total, so it won’t trigger an automatic one-game suspension.
Chris Fedor: #Cavs Cedi Osman and Isaiah Hartenstein are both OUT tonight against Dallas while Kevin Love WILL PLAY, sources tell @clevelanddotcom. The starting lineup will be: Collin Sexton, Isaac Okoro, Dean Wade, Kevin Love and Jarrett Allen
And whenever the heat gets personal, Sexton said it doesn’t sting. “Not at all. Everybody’s got their opinion, everybody’s going to say what they have to say,” Sexton said in a Zoom call after practice Monday. “I take bits and pieces and things. I don’t just take everything they say. They feel like I’m not doing good at something, I’m going to make sure I prove them wrong. “They say I can’t be a point guard, now this next stretch of games I’m going to go out there and show them I can do both and run the team and score the ball as well and be efficient with it. I just pretty much just take the criticism and run with it, and just have them look crazy down the stretch.”
So with more time running the point coming before the season concludes May 16, Sexton knows more cynicism might lie ahead. Sexton said he sees and hears the doubters, who express their feelings on several platforms. “I hear it. Read it. We talk about it. My teammates, we all talk about it,” Sexton said. “And at the end of the day, I’m not running from it.” Sexton, 22, said he didn’t need time to learn how to cope with the negativity. “Not at all because I’m taking criticism all my life,” he said. “So for me, it wasn’t too bad.”
Sexton insisted his relationship with Love is good despite such public moments. “It’s been good, especially like when it’s tough times or even good times, I know I can go to him anytime throughout the game. He knows if I’m like ‘OK, we need you to knock it down,’ he knows I’m just trying to uplift him,” Sexton said. “He comes to me, he’ll be like ‘Make a shot, what are you doing?’ He’ll say that and just pretty much eases me up and just pretty much relaxes me. Sometimes if you’re missing or are having a tough game, then you need someone just to ease your mind and focus your attention somewhere else.
“With K, we pretty much huddle on the court or when we come out of the game, but we definitely communicate a whole lot during the game. Sometimes he’s like, ‘Run the same play again and let’s go to Cedi’s side. Let’s hit Darius on the back cut,’ different stuff like that. Different stuff that he tells me that I make sure that I orchestrate to the team.”
