Durant gets tossed as Bucks dump Warriors

OAKLAND (California): Kevin Durant’s return from a rib injury ended early.

The All-Star forward was ejected with 2.4 seconds left in the first half of the Golden State Warriors’ 116107 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday night.

“He said the magic word,” coach Steve Kerr said.

Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 32 points and the Bucks beat the Warriors for just the second time in their past 10 meetings.

Sidelined by a fractured rib the previous six games, Durant argued after getting no foul call on a drive through three Bucks defenders. Official Tre Maddox whistled him for a technical foul, then gave him another and tossed him. Khris Middleton made two free throws to cap an 11-0 run that gave Milwaukee a 58-49 halftime lead.

“I got fouled, I told him how I felt about it, he kicked me out,” Durant said.

Crew chief Bill Kennedy confirmed to a pool reporter that both technicals were the result of vulgarity by Durant.

The Warriors dropped their third straight game and seventh in 10 outings, allowing the Houston Rockets to lock up the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.

“We’re struggling right now,” said Kerr, whose team welcomed back Durant and Draymond Green, but played again without injured Stephen Curry (ankle sprain) and Klay Thompson (broken thumb).

The Warriors remain firmly in the No. 2 slot in the West and Kerr refused to make too much out of Durant’s ejection.

“I think Kevin was frustrated so he snapped,” Kerr said.

Durant leads the NBA with five ejections and now has 14 technical fouls, two short of the threshold for a one-game suspension.