Credit: X
The LA Clippers held their nerves to beat the defending champions, Denver Nuggets, 102-100 at the Crypto.com Arena on Thursday night in the 2023-24 NBA regular season. With a few games remaining in the regular season, both teams looked to register a win considering the heated playoff race in the Western Conference. During the final quarter of the game, Nuggets coach Mike Malone was ejected following a verbal altercation with the officials.
Paul George's 28-point game for the Clippers overshadowed Nikola Jokic's 35-point triple-double (10 assists and 17 rebounds) as the home side improved their season record to 48-28. In the 2023-24 NBA regular season standings, the Clippers are placed fourth while Denver have managed the second spot with a 53-24 record.
During the fourth quarter, things became belligerent on the court as Nuggets head coach Mike Malone was booted from the game. After Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. was not given a foul call during his shot attempt and later was called for a foul during the Clippers offense. This sparked the controversy as Malone expressed his dissent to the referee and received a technical foul.
However, the 52-year-old coach didn't stop after receiving a tech and went on to yell at another official as he charged on the court. The Nuggets coach's antics led to his second consecutive technical foul, which resulted in his ejection. In a viral video, Clippers guard James Harden could be seen signaling Malone to leave the game after his ejection.
Watch the video here:
This was not the first time when Mike Malone was ejected from the game this season as he received his first ejection last year during a game against the Detroit Pistons, where he was involved in another altercation with the referees.
