MIAMI -- Josh Richardson lost his temper and then his shoe, as the Heat guard flung his sneaker into the stands in disgust before being ejected from Sunday's 113-97 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers .
"I don't want to talk about it. It was a series of events," Richardson explained after the loss. "I got caught up.
"I wasn't really thinking about much," he added. "I was thinking about how frustrated I was. And going forward I can't let that happen."
With 6:40 remaining in the fourth quarter, Richardson drove for a dunk and felt he was fouled by the Lakers' Josh Hart . As Richardson hit the floor underneath the Heat basket, his left shoe came loose. Richardson took it off and flicked it initially right in front of him. Upset, Richardson showed his left shoe to official Kevin Scott.
As play resumed, Richardson's frustration mounted. He drew his fifth personal foul and also threw his shoe against the scorer's table. When Miami coach Erik Spoelstra motioned for Richardson to head to the bench, Richardson flung his shoe far into the stands. Scott whistled Richardson for a technical before ejecting him from the game. This was Richardson's first career ejection in his four seasons, according to ESPN Stats & Info.
"You saw a competitive will come out," Spoelstra said. "I think probably what you saw more than anything and I agree with Josh -- not throwing his shoe into the stands, that's unacceptable -- but going in for the dunk when there's some contact there and he lost his shoe ... from my angle it looked like there was contact."
Seconds later, Spoelstra was given a technical foul by officials as well. The Lakers led by as many as 21 earlier in the game. When Richardson was ejected, the Lakers led by 13. Richardson left with 17 points and six rebounds.
"That is probably where the source of the major frustration came from," Spoelstra said of what the Heat thought was a foul on Hart on the Richardson dunk attempt. "And also getting our tails handed to us for the majority of the game. It should bring out some kind of emotion out of our guys when we are playing at home and not playing the way we want to.
"But the response after going to the bench, that is not acceptable."
