Cousins was tossed at halftime Monday night after picking up his second technical foul for arguing with officials in the Kings’ 98-91 overtime loss to the Utah Jazz at EnergySolutions Arena.

Kings coach Keith Smart and guard Isaiah Thomas saw the potential for something bad as Cousins approached referees Scott Foster, Matt Boland and Tre Maddox at halfcourt.

But Cousins said enough before they arrived.

“He was all right until whatever he said,” Thomas said. “He’s got to be smarter because he’s not just hurting himself, he’s hurting his team when he does things like that.”

Cousins has been ejected twice against the Jazz this season. He was thrown out from a Nov. 24 win over visiting Utah after being called for two technical fouls.

Cousins has an NBA-high 12 technical fouls and is four from an automatic one-game suspension.