Even the Rockets thought Deandre Ayton's controversial ejection was 'soft'
Deandre Ayton was the best player on the court for the Lakers in Game 4 against Houston before his ejection compromised the Lakers' comeback hopes.
Lakers center Deandre Ayton walks off the court after being ejected in the third quarter of the Lakers' 115-96 loss to the Houston Rockets in Game 4 on Sunday night. (Karen Warren / Associated Press) Deandre Ayton has a simple explanation for his first career ejection. “We’re both sweaty guys,” the Lakers center said after his accidental elbow to the back of Alperen Sengun 's head resulted in his ejection from Sunday’s loss to the Houston Rockets.
The Lakers center was assessed a flagrant foul 2 with 5:41 remaining in the third quarter of the 115-96 Game 4 loss . It “looked crazy on camera,” Ayton acknowledged, but it was not malicious. Ayton said he was bracing for contact against the 6-foot-11, 243-pound Sengun and Ayton’s arm simply slipped off Sengun’s shoulder and hit his head.
It didn’t affect Sengun at all: he finished with 19 points and six rebounds on six-of-12 shooting as the Rockets forced a Game 5 on Wednesday at 7 p. m. PDT at Crypto.
com Arena. Read more: Turnover-plagued Lakers fail to pull off sweep in Game 4 loss to Rockets “I’m not no guy who is a dirty player or plays like that,” Ayton said. “If anything, me trying to play dirty, I’ll damn near hurt myself.
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