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MEMPHIS -– Kevin Durant shook his head repeatedly with dismay.
The Warriors’ star did not say a single word to any official. Yet, official Karl Lane issued Durant a technical. The Warriors’ 132-117 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies in their regular-season finale on Wednesday proved inconsequential after already locking up the No. 1 seed earlier this week. But this call mattered to Durant, who just collected his 16th technical with 9:39 left in the first quarter.
“Is he going to get suspended for the playoffs?” Warriors coach Steve Kerr asked a Warriors official in a bemused tone.
Thankfully for the Warriors, the answer is no.
“I knew it starts over in the playoffs,” Durant said. “I figured he would rescind that one, anyway. I wasn’t too worried.”
Durant seemed worried at the time, though. Lane charged that Durant bumped into him. Durant protested the call and subsequently spoke to official Kane Fitzgerald to clear the air.
Durant chalked up the incident to a “miscommunication,” adding that Fitzgerald told him he will send footage to the league office to get the call rescinded. Should the call get rescinded, Durant will avoid paying a $5,000 fine to the NBA
“I did bump into him. But it wasn’t intentional,” Durant said. “I was going to wipe my feet off. He said I was following him to the scorer’s table. But you guys see I wipe my foot off after every stoppage of play.”
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