Nuggets guard Austin Rivers ejected for faking elbow at Pacers' Lance Stephenson

Denver Nuggets guard Austin Rivers was ejected on Wednesday night after he faked an elbow at Indiana Pacers guard Lance Stephenson’s head — and he’s not happy about it.

Rivers was hit with a technical foul in the fourth quarter of Denver’s 125-118 win in Indianapolis after he faked throwing an elbow at Stephenson’s head while holding the ball at the top of the key. Rivers was trying to create space before swinging the ball to the other side of the court, and jabbed toward Stephenson’s head briefly.

Rivers didn’t make contact with Stephenson, but officials still assessed a technical foul after a review.

That marked his second technical of the quarter, after Rivers and Stephenson got into a brief shoving match just minutes earlier. So, Rivers was ejected from the game automatically.

Rivers finished with three points and three rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench for Denver.

Rivers took to social media after the ejection, which he called ridiculous. He also called Stephenson an “irritant” on his Instagram story.

“I’m cool with Lance doing all his extra stuff. He’s an irritant,” Rivers wrote on Instagram. “Just don’t throw me out for trying to get him off of me. Especially when I didn’t even hit him or really try to. I wasn’t close.”

Rivers wasn’t alone, either. Both Kevin Durant and Damian Lillard seemed to have his back on Instagram.

Nuggets coach Michael Malone said that he was told Rivers was ejected for a “malicious act,” and that they plan on talking to the league about the incident.

The Nuggets, after opening the game on a 43-15 run, held on to claim the seven-point win on Wednesday, their third straight. Nikola Jokic nearly had a triple-double with 37 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists.