LOPEZ LOSES IT AFTER GETTING EJECTED
Chicago centre yells at referee and tosses chair
AVISITING player drew one of the biggest cheers of the night Monday in Sacramento. Chicago Bulls center Robin Lopez was ejected late in the first half for screaming about calls he didn’t like.
Lopez, who is a candidate to be traded this week, threw a chair in the tunnel on his way to the locker room.
The outburst prompted a loud ovation during an otherwise sleepy first half for Kings fans.
Sacramento trailed 55-41 at the break before rallying for a 104-98 win.
Lopez’s problems started when he believed he was fouled on an offensive move in the lane, but no call was made.
He continued to argue with referee Justin Van Duyne on his way back down the court on the subsequent possession.
When Lopez then was whistled for a foul, he went back at Van Duyne, who assessed a technical foul without saying a word.
Getting more heated in his argument, Lopez had to be restraining by teammates, and he was soon given a second technical foul (and an automatic ejection) by referee Rodney Mott.
Lopez eventually was ushered off the floor by Bulls coaches and security.
“I disagreed with the call,” Lopez said of his interaction with Van Duyne.
“I told him, ‘That’s bad.’ I’m not sure the reasoning behind the technical (foul). But I suppose the officials are absolute, and who am I to attempt to discredit that?
“I was a little bit surprised. In my mind, such a subdued response.”
Asked whether the chair was OK after being tossed, Lopez replied, “I think so. It’s metal.”
Lopez scored two points and grabbed one rebound in 13 minutes Monday.
In 53 games, all starts, this season, he is averaging 12.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists.
The 29-year-old veteran is in his second season with the Bulls.
A first-round draft pick of the Suns out of Stanford in 2008, Lopez played in Phoenix through 2011-12. He subsequently played for the then-New Orleans Hornets, the Portland Trail Blazers and the New York Knicks before joining Chicago.
DETROIT 111 Portland 91, Washington 111 INDIANA 102, Orlando 111 MIAMI 109, Utah 133 NEW ORLEANS 109, DENVER 121 Charlotte 104, SACRAMENTO 104 Chicago 98, LA CLIPPERS 104 Dallas 101.