OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – The NBA has rescinded Russell Westbrook’s 16th technical foul, allowing the star guard to play in the Thunder’s critical game against Portland on Monday night.
The league said in an email Monday the technical wouldn’t stand, although it did not say why. That means the NBA’s leading scorer avoids what would have been an automatic suspension because he had reached the league limit of technical fouls.
Westbrook drew the technical with 5:57 left in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s 116-104 loss to Indiana. He had a career-high 54 points in the game.
The Thunder are tied with New Orleans for eighth place in the Western Conference, with the Pelicans holding the tiebreaker. Both teams have two games left.
Westbrook, the All-Star MVP, is averaging 27.9 points a game.