NEW YORK – Wizards rookie John Wall has been suspended one game without pay and two Miami Heat players were fined for their actions in Wednesday night's game at Washington.
NBA Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Stu Jackson announced the penalties Thursday in a statement.
In addition to Wall's suspension, Heat forward Juwan Howard was handed a $35,000 fine and teammate Zydrunas Ilgauskas was fined $25,000 following a scuffle in the second quarter of the Heat's 123-107 win over the Wizards.
Wall was playing tight defense on Ilgauskas, who while protecting the ball appeared to elbow Wall in the face at least once. Wall then swung his right hand at Ilgauskas.
"Got hit by the elbow and reacted to it. Disappointed in the way I reacted. I let my teammates down, let the organization down," Wall said. "It was two elbows. I got hit with the first one; I stopped and waited. And the second one, I got hit, and I just reacted."
Wizards center JaVale McGee tried to separate the two and was pushed by Howard. Wall and Ilgauskas each received a flagrant foul-2 and were ejected. Howard was called for a technical and ejected for escalation.
"Ilgauskas tried to punk (Wall), hit him in the face with his elbow," McGee said. "Obviously, (Wall) wasn't going for it. ... I went over there to break it up, and Juwan Howard tried to come over and blind-side, push me, or whatever."
Wall high-fived fans as he walked from the court to the home locker room, ejected for the second time from an NBA game. It also happened Feb. 4, when he was called for two technicals in a loss to the Orlando Magic. He will serve his suspension Friday at home against Cleveland.
Howard, who used to play for Washington, also was involved in a flare-up between the Wizards and Heat in November. In that game, Washington's Hilton Armstrong flagrantly fouled Miami's Joel Anthony. Howard then pushed Armstrong in the back, and they both were ejected.
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