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| NBA suspends Stoudemire, Diaw for leaving bench |
PHOENIX -- The Suns lost two players for one game, and the Spurs lost one for two contests in the wake of a series of incidents in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinal.
Phoenix All-Star center Amare Stoudemire and teammate Boris Diaw were suspended Tuesday for one game for leaving the bench after Robert Horry's flagrant foul of Steve Nash on Monday.
The NBA also announced Horry was suspended two games for his actions in the Suns' 104-98 victory at San Antonio on Monday night. Phoenix's victory evened the series at two games apiece.
All three players will miss Wednesday night's Game 5 in Phoenix of what has been a rough, intense showdown between two of the best teams in the NBA. Horry also will miss Friday night's Game 6 in San Antonio.
Horry was suspended for flagrantly fouling Nash with 18 seconds remaining and then striking Raja Bell about the shoulders with a forearm, NBA executive vice president Stu Jackson said in a statement. Stoudemire and Diaw were suspended for leaving "the immediate vicinity of their bench" during the altercation.
The penalties are a severe blow to a Phoenix team that had rallied in the final minutes to beat the Spurs in San Antonio.
"This is a very unfortunate circumstance," Jackson said during a conference call. "No one here at the league office wants to suspend players any game, much less a pivotal game in the second round of a playoff series. But the rule, however, is the rule, and we intend to apply it consistently."
Stoudemire, a first-team all-NBA selection, is averaging team highs of 23.5 points and 10.3 rebounds in the series. His loss removes the Suns' imposing inside presence. Phoenix's problems are compounded by the absence of Diaw, who started when Stoudemire missed all but three games last season because of surgeries on both knees.
Horry, meanwhile, is a role player best known for his clutch 3-pointers. He has scored 4.8 points per game.
"I feel it's terribly wrong," Suns owner Robert Sarver said. "I feel we've been unjustly penalized for the fact that we played a clean, hard game. I feel if any team should have been penalized in this series, it should be the Spurs and it shouldn't be us. I feel like I've just been punched in the gut."
Asked if he thought it was a fair decision, Jackson said, "It's not a matter of fairness, it's a matter of correctness, and this is the right decision at this point in time."
Jackson said it was clear that Stoudemire and Diaw had violated the rule, saying they were "20 to 25 feet" from their seats.
"Both players stood and made their way towards the altercation which occurred on the court," Jackson said. "They did not remain in the bench area."
The Suns' coaches quickly pushed the two players back to the bench, but the damage had been done, even though neither player reached the confrontation.
The suspensions deflate a Suns team that finished Game 4 with a 16-3 run to regain homecourt advantage.
"I think we had the momentum going," Sarver said, "and for Robert Horry to be rewarded like that to me is unbelievable. I can't see the justice in it, but it is what it is. We'll play hard and do the best we can."
Sarver said that seeking a change in the rule would be at the top of his agenda for next season.
"The team that plays dirty should not be rewarded, and the team that plays fair should not be penalized," he said.
Sarver wasn't counting his severely depleted team out.
"When you've got Nash and Raja and Kurt [Thomas] and Leandro [Barbosa] on the court, you can't bet against them no matter what the odds are, but I just feel horrible about it," Sarver said. "The guys played so well last night. They were so gritty and they hung tough and they beat the Spurs at their own game.
"They won the type of game we wouldn't have won two years ago. It was a big step forward for us, a big step forward for the team and the organization."
Jackson brushed aside a suggestion that Tim Duncan violated the rule in the second quarter when he rushed onto the court after Francisco Elson dunked and landed on the shoulders of the Suns' James Jones.
"Both players got up," Jackson said. "There was no altercation, and they ran down to the other end of the court."
Jackson also wasn't buying Stoudemire's contention he had a right to be at the scorer's table because he was checking in to the game.
"I've not seen a player report in quite that way," Jackson said.
The suspensions are the latest twist in an intriguing series that's featured several rough plays.
Nash has received the brunt of it. He missed a critical portion of the final minute of Game 1 because of a bloody gash in his nose, the result of a head-on collision with Tony Parker.
After Game 2, Stoudemire called the Spurs "a dirty team," specifically mentioning Bruce Bowen and Manu Ginobili.
In Game 3, Bowen kneed Nash in the groin, but the NBA decided no suspension was warranted.
After he went back to the bench following Horry's foul, Stoudemire chose to rub it in.
He turned to the Spurs crowd and chanted "Dirty, dirty, dirty."
"Can I get a 'dirty' now?" Stoudemire shouted. "Now, was I out of line?"
Before Chicago took on Detroit in their Game 5 on Tuesday, Bulls coach Scott Skiles weighted in on the suspensions.
"A rule is a rule, and in the past handful of years since they put that in, there have been I think less than five, maybe less than three, but there have been a couple occasions where someone just put one foot on the floor and got suspended. So if you're going to have a hard and fast rule like that, I think you've got to abide by it, and you can't make any exceptions," Skiles said.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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Mikeee
