Today the NBA announced the one game suspension (Game 4) for both Zaza Pachulia of the Atlanta Hawks and Jason Richardson of the Orlando Magic. Pachulia and J-Rich were both involved in an altercation in the closing minutes of Game 3 (video after the jump).
The league’s disciplinarian, vice president Stu Jackson, was on hand at Philips Arena and needed less than 24 hours to announce his decision Saturday.
Pachulia will have to sit out Sunday night’s game for head-butting Richardson and fighting. The Magic player was suspended for shoving Pachulia in the face and fighting. Both will also forfeit one game’s pay.
With about 2 1/2 minutes to go Friday night, Pachulia took exception when Dwight Howard(notes) swung his elbow after a hard foul, responding with an elbow of his own. Richardson jumped in and was head-butted several times by Pachulia as they jawed with each other. Richardson responded with a slap to Pachulia’s face before Howard pulled away his teammate.
Pachulia and Richardson were both ejected, and Howard received a technical. The Hawks won 88-84 to take a 2-1 lead in the series.
Read more about the suspensions via AP on Yahoo.com
