Even the Rockets thought Deandre Ayton’s controversial ejection was ‘soft’

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.

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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. I just hope he’s all right and they don’t think it was intentional.”

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Sengun and Rockets coach Ime Udoka both said the flagrant 2 call — which characterizes an act as “unnecessary and excessive” — was “soft.” Sengun said he didn’t expect Ayton to be ejected for the play. When crew chief James Williams declared that Ayton would be sent off, the Lakers center simply dropped his head and walked to the locker room. Injured Rockets star Kevin Durant, who missed the game with a bone bruise in his sprained left ankle, waved goodbye from the Rockets bench.

“We’re proud of the way he handled it, and I think that just speaks volume about who he is and his progression,” Lakers guard Marcus Smart said. “He’s learning, he’s continuing — it probably would have been justifiable if he went off, right? But to keep his composure and stay positive, I think that’s only going to help him and this team.”

Lakers’ Jarred Vanderbilt (2) and Deandre Ayton (5) go up for a rebound against Houston forward Tari Eason during the first half Sunday. (Karen Warren / Associated Press)

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Publish date : 2026-04-27 06:33:00

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