Atlanta Hawks center Zaza Pachulia has been suspended  one  game  without  pay  for  headbutting  Orlando Magic guard Jason  Richardson and fighting.

Richardson  was  suspended  one  game  without  pay  for shoving Pachulia  in the face and fighting.

The suspensions were announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

Pachulia  and  Richardson  will serve their suspensions on Sunday, April 24 when  the  Magic  are  at  the  Atlanta  Hawks  for  Game 4 of the 2011 NBA Playoffs.

Read fan discussion of the incident and share your opinion in this forum topic.

The AP reports:

The New Orleans Hornets didn’t expect Pau Gasol to toss up a 3-pointer from the corner any more than the Lakers star’s growing chorus of critics expected him to make it.

Gasol stunned them all by draining the shot, then scored twice more during a key fourth-quarter surge that helped secure a 100-86 victory Friday night and put Los Angeles in control of the first-round playoff series.

“It’s funny how a shot can kind of turn the momentum around for him when he’s had a hard time making shots around the basket and in the paint—and he knocks down a 3,” said Kobe Bryant, who led the Lakers with 30 points. “That kind of got him going.” …

Andrew Bynum added 14 points and 11 rebounds. He briefly went down holding his right knee, but remained in the game after trainers examined him and then got a rest for most of the fourth quarter. Lamar Odom scored 13 points for the two-time defending champs, who took the lead for good when Ron Artest made a layup as he was fouled to make it 13-10.

Chris Paul had 22 points and eight assist for the Hornets, who managed to stay within single digits for long stretches of the game but never truly threatened to take the lead in the second half…

Landry scored 23 points for New Orleans, while Trevor Ariza had 12 points and 12 rebounds and Emeka Okafor had 15 points.

The AP reports:

Jamal Crawford banked in the long-range shot from the top of the key with 5.7 seconds left to cap a brilliant second half, leading the Atlanta Hawks to an 88-84 victory over the Orlando Magic on Friday night and a 2-1 lead in their Eastern Conference playoff series.

The Hawks led most of the game, but it came right down to the wire—marred by an altercation that led to the ejection of Pachulia and Jason Richardson of Orlando.

Both were thrown out with 2:22 remaining after getting into it under the basket. The teams swapped the lead four times after that near-brawl, with Al Horford putting the Hawks ahead for good with 46.6 seconds remaining…

Joe Johnson added 21 points for Atlanta, while Josh Smith had 15 points and 10 rebounds. Howard, as usual, led the way for the Magic with 21 points and 15 rebounds, but that was actually quite a letdown after he averaged 39.5 points during the first two games in Orlando…

The Magic still has not led all night until Quentin Richardson hit a pointer just over a minute into the final quarter. The Hawks, who made only 5 of 20 shots in the third, suddenly found their shooting touch and ripped off 10 straight points for a 79-71 lead with just over 6 minutes left.