J.R. Smith suspended for Game 4 for elbowing Terry (Yahoo! Sports)
BOSTON (AP) — The NBA suspended Knicks guard J.R. Smith on Saturday night for Game 4 of New York’s playoff series against Boston for elbowing the Celtics’ Jason Terry in the chin.
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JR Smith Suspended for Game 4 vs. Celtics
The 2013 NBA playoffs have temporarily lost a star, as New York Knicks swingman J.R. Smith has been suspended for Game 4 against the Boston Celtics.
This comes after Smith engaged in a scuffle with Celtics shooting guard Jason Terry in Game 3. After the two got physical, Smith threw an elbow at JET, and officials ejected Smith from the game after calling the foul a Flagrant 2.
Per John Schuhmann of NBA.com, that was enough for the league to decide that Smith deserved to be suspended.
Smith, the 2013 Sixth Man of the Year, has averaged 16.3 points per game during New York’s series with their rival Celtics.
The Knicks currently own a 3-0 series lead over the Celtics, which has some believing that Game 4 isn’t necessarily a must-win. However, New York hasn’t won a postseason series since 2000.
Any playoff game for the Knicks is a must-win. Unfortunately, this one will be without their second-leading scorer.
You be the judge of whether or not this ruling was fair or foul.
For what it’s worth, Smith ran off the court without contesting the ejection ruling once the foul transpired. For that reason, it’s likely that Smith expected to be thrown out for his actions and thus prepared for a harsh ruling.
No matter what Smith may have believed, this is a serious void for a Knicks team averaging 87.3 points in the series with the Celtics.
During Game 1, Smith scored 15 huge points while Carmelo Anthony disappeared for the second and third quarters. Smith also came up with five rebounds and two steals, thus displaying his drastically improved defensive presence.
In Game 2, Smith upped his total to 19 points and made two of his four three-point attempts.
Prior to being ejected in Game 3, Smith matched his Game 1 scoring output with 15 points in just 24 minutes. Smith produced four rebounds, three assists and two steals in that time as well.
All in all, Smith has been the Knicks’ X-factor throughout the duration of the season. They’ll be forced to play without him for Game 4 of their series with the Celtics.
Can they win?
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Kendall Gill suspended for fight
We hate terrorists. We hate cockroaches in our hamburgers. We hate lying weatherman. But at no time does our hatred boil to a fevered pitch of disgust than when a ref makes a bad call. There is a special crevice in hell for these refs who ruin a game by making backasswards calls. The coach erupts into a frenzy spewing profanities and foaming at the mouth, the players stare slack-jawed in shock and disbelief and the thousands of fans in the arena must hold back the urge to storm the court and rip the flesh off the bones from the men and woman in the white and black shirts. Ok, maybe not everyone has these urges. Yet for many Chicago Bulls fans this past week, a nonrandom act of senseless violence felt justified. Apparently, Comcast SportsNet Chicago Bulls analyst Kendall Gill felt the same way. Let’s recap. The Chicago Bulls are slumping hard like it’s the weekend and Bernie’s lifeless body doesn’t have enough helping hands to keep him upright. Derrick Rose’s return is still a myster…
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NBA analyst suspended after punching a colleague
Kendall Gill is done for the season.
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Gill suspended from Bulls analyst job
On Tuesday, former Illinois star and 15-year NBA veteran Kendall Gill was involved in a physical… [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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Suspended Akron player pleads not guilty after arrest on marijuana charges
Alex Abreu’s suspension is a blow for an Akron team with high postseason aspirations.
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Akron player suspended following arrest on drug charges
Alex Abreu’s suspension is a blow for an Akron team with high postseason aspirations.
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Serge Ibaka Won’t Be Suspended for Punching Blake Griffin
Oklahoma City Thunder power forward Serge Ibaka will not be suspended, but instead fined by the NBA for punching Los Angeles Clippers star Blake Griffin in the groin on Sunday, according to Sports Illustrated writer Chris Mannix (via Twitter):
Ibaka was assessed a Flagrant 1 foul during the game but was not ejected for the chop.
UPDATE: Tuesday, March 5, at 4:21 p.m. ET by Ethan Grant
The figures have been released for the Ibaka fine. Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman reported on Twitter that Ibaka will pay the NBA a pretty penny for his misconduct during Sunday’s game:
Royce Young of CBS Sports also reported that the NBA upgraded Ibaka’s foul to a Flagrant 2, reversing the decision made by Dan Crawford, Derrick Collins and Kevin Cutler:
—End of update—
The incident occurred late in the fourth quarter of the Thunder’s 108-104 win at Staples Center on Sunday afternoon, after the video replay showed Ibaka delivered a shot to Griffin’s groin, sending L.A.’s high-flyer to the ground.
Ibaka defended his actions after the game, claiming he wasn’t out to hurt Griffin (via USA Today‘s Adi Joseph):
He hit my hands away. He’s strong, so when he grabs you, your jersey or whatever, and you try to defend yourself and rebound. So maybe you can do some move, not to hurt, (but) just to get good position. But then something happens where you get hurt in the paint. It’s not anything where I want to try to hurt him. I’m not that kind of person. I just try to play hard, and that’s it.
Although Ibaka’s comments aren’t shocking based on who they are coming from, most who watched Sunday’s marquee Western Conference showdown knew immediately after seeing the initial replay that Ibaka’s chop was anything but a basketball play and no doubt unnecessary.
The argument can certainly be made that it was intentional, as the windup and force of the blow made it look like a mean-spirited shot to a defenseless player.
Griffin wasn’t seriously injured, but Ibaka, who was not ejected for the shot, proved to be huge for the Thunder down the stretch, scoring on a three-point play with a minute left to give Oklahoma City a four-point lead.
The referee’s call, and the result of the game, could have huge playoff implications, as the Thunder currently lead the Clippers by 1.5 games for the second seed in the Western Conference standings.
Oklahoma City’s fourth-leading scorer, Ibaka is averaging 13.6 points 7.8 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game this season on 56.3-percent shooting from the field. The 23-year-old doesn’t have a reputation as a dirty player, but this incident certainly won’t make him popular among his NBA peers.
Follow Bleacher Report Featured Columnist Patrick Clarke on Twitter.
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Serge Ibaka Reportedly Won’t Be Suspended for Punching Blake Griffin
Oklahoma City Thunder power forward Serge Ibaka will reportedly not be suspended, but instead fined by the NBA for punching Los Angeles Clippers star Blake Griffin on Sunday, according to Sports Illustrated writer Chris Mannix (via Twitter):
No suspension coming for Serge Ibaka, I’m told. Fine only for the crotch shot on Blake Griffin.
— Chris Mannix (@ChrisMannixSI) March 5, 2013
Ibaka was assessed a Flagrant 1 foul during the game but was not ejected for the chop.
The incident occurred late in the fourth quarter of the Thunder’s 108-104 win at Staples Center on Sunday afternoon, after the video replay showed Ibaka delivered a shot to Griffin’s groin, sending L.A.’s high-flyer to the ground.
Ibaka defended his actions after the game, claiming he wasn’t out to hurt Griffin (via USA Today‘s Adi Joseph):
He hit my hands away. He’s strong, so when he grabs you, your jersey or whatever, and you try to defend yourself and rebound. So maybe you can do some move, not to hurt, (but) just to get good position. But then something happens where you get hurt in the paint. It’s not anything where I want to try to hurt him. I’m not that kind of person. I just try to play hard, and that’s it.
Although Ibaka’s comments aren’t shocking based on who they are coming from, most who watched Sunday’s marquee Western Conference showdown knew immediately after seeing the initial replay that Ibaka’s chop was anything but a basketball play and no doubt unnecessary.
The argument can certainly be made that it was intentional, as the windup and force of the blow made it look like a mean-spirited shot to a defenseless player.
Griffin wasn’t seriously injured, but Ibaka, who was not ejected for the shot, proved to be huge for the Thunder down the stretch, scoring on a three-point play with a minute left to give Oklahoma City a four-point lead.
The referee’s call, and the result of the game, could have huge playoff implications, as the Thunder currently lead the Clippers by 1.5 games for the second seed in the Western Conference standings.
Oklahoma City’s fourth-leading scorer, Ibaka is averaging 13.6 points 7.8 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game this season on 56.3-percent shooting from the field. The 23-year-old doesn’t have a reputation as a dirty player, but this incident certainly won’t make him popular among his NBA peers.
Follow Bleacher Report Featured Columnist Patrick Clarke on Twitter.
Read more NBA news on BleacherReport.com
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Harrison suspended by St John’s for rest of season (Yahoo! Sports)
NEW YORK (AP) — D’Angelo Harrison, the third-leading scorer in the Big East Conference, was suspended Friday by St. John’s for the rest of the season.
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