Fans and players alike were dismayed at the referees' decision to call a technical foul on Kristaps Porzingis during the third quarter of the Western Conference playoff game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Los Angeles Clippers.

It was already Porzingis' second technical foul of the game, leading to his ejection with 9:10 left in the period. At the time of his exit, Porzingis had scored 14 points and the Mavericks led, 71-66.

A scrum broke out after this play between Luka and Marcus Morris. pic.twitter.com/41gZIGsGCp

— ESPN (@espn) August 18, 2020

Kristaps Porzingis was ejected after he received his second tech. pic.twitter.com/aQoJcrI8KE

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) August 18, 2020

The Clippers went on to outplay the Mavs down the stretch for a 118-110 triumph and a 1-0 lead in their best-of-seven series.

But Porzingis' ejection drew the ire of many players, who felt that it was a "soft" call. Porzingis had come to the defense of Dallas star Luka Doncic after he got hacked by LA's Marcus Morris Sr.

Porzingis and Morris had to be separated after a confrontation, and double technicals were called.

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James bluntly said on Twitter that the call was "bogus."

Man that was BOGUS AS HELL MAN!!!!! Cmon man. 🤦🏾‍♂️

— LeBron James (@KingJames) August 18, 2020

Dallas Mavericks icon Dirk Nowitzki also chimed in.

That ejection is super soft...

— Dirk Nowitzki (@swish41) August 18, 2020

Other players to criticize the call included Cleveland's Kevin Love and NFL superstar Patrick Mahomes.

...you can’t eject him Kristaps for that. Protecting the Mavs best player. That’s bad.

— Kevin Love (@kevinlove) August 18, 2020

That’s trash man! 🗑 #NBAPlayoffs

— Patrick Mahomes II (@PatrickMahomes) August 18, 2020

This was the first playoff game of Porzingis' career.

(For more sports coverage, visit the ABS-CBN Sports website).