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James Posey of the New Orleans Hornets has been suspended one game without pay for throwing a ball at a game official, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.
The incident occurred with 5:46 remaining in the fourth quarter of the New York Knicks 103-93 victory over the Hornets at Madison Square Garden on Friday, March 27.
Posey will serve his suspension tonight when the Hornets host the San Antonio Spurs at the New Orleans Arena.
The AP reports: Chris Paul got mixed up with Nate Robinson. James Posey threw the ball at a referee. The New Orleans Hornets showed plenty of emotion—just not until they’d shown too little while falling behind the New York Knicks. Al Harrington scored 23 points, David Lee added 18 points and 11 rebounds, and the Knicks snapped a six-game losing streak Friday night with a 103-93 victory over the frustrated Hornets, who were hit with two technicals and an ejection in the fourth quarter. “I just think if we would have come out with that type of passion in the third quarter, then we would have won the game,” said Hornets coach Byron Scott, adding it was a “terrible” loss for a team in the middle of the Western Conference playoff race.
The New Orleans Times-Picayune (John Reid) reports (via blog): Hornets center Tyson Chandler will miss the next seven to 14 days because he will have his inflamed right ankle immobilized. Chandler will miss his fifth consecutive games tonight when the Hornets play the New York Knicks. He did not travel with the team on the trip.
The NBA Board of Governors voted to approve a playing rules change in regards to “too many players on the court”, which will take effect beginning Friday, March 27.
Under the playing rules change, when a “too many players on the court” violation is called, a technical foul will be assessed against the offending team and the non-offending team will have the option of either accepting or nullifying the game action that occurred during the violation.
Option 1 — Accept Game Action
The non-offending team can opt to ACCEPT all play that occurred during the violation, including any points scored, with no adjustment of the game clock.
Option 2 — Nullify Game Action
The non-offending team can opt to NULLIFY all play that occurred during the violation, other than any acts of unsportsmanlike conduct or flagrant fouls or any points scored from free throws as a result of such actions.
Under this option, following the technical foul, the game clock would be reset to the time when the ball was put into play with too many players on the court and, depending on how the ball was originally put into play, play would resume in accordance with the following:
1) If the original play commenced with a throw-in, then the ball would be returned to the original throw-in spot and play commenced with a throw-in.
2) If the original play commenced with a missed free-throw attempt where the ball remained in play, then play would be commenced with a jump ball held at center court between any two players who were on the floor at the time play was suspended due to the violation.
3) If the original play commenced with a jump ball, then play would be commenced with a jump ball held at the original jump-ball spot between the same two players who participated in the original jump ball.
The AP reports: Carmelo Anthony scored 29 points and Denver beat New Orleans 101-88 on Wednesday night, snapping the Hornets’ three-game winning streak while gaining ground in the tight Western Conference playoff race… Chauncey Billups scored 26 points, hitting four of his five 3-pointers in the second half to help the Nuggets pull away after the game was tied with a little over 7 minutes to go in the third quarter… Chris Paul had 19 points and 13 assists, and David West scored 18 points for New Orleans (44-26), which dropped a game behind Denver (46-26) in the Western Conference standings… Hilton Armstrong and Rasual Butler each scored 10 points for New Orleans, which played an unusually sloppy game. Denver wound up converting 19 Hornets turnovers into 18 points. Paul turned the ball over six times.
The AP reports: New Orleans held Golden State to 13 field goals while opening a 20-point first-half lead and then coasted to a 99-89 victory Sunday. “We came out with the right mind-set,” said David West, who scored 23 points. “We were prepared for them defensively and didn’t allow them to get any control of the game.” Chris Paul scored 27 points as the Hornets pulled within 1 1/2 games of the Southwest Division-leading Houston Rockets. They trail the San Antonio Spurs, who lost to the Rockets earlier Sunday, by a game… Stephen Jackson led Golden State with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Kelenna Azubuike added 16 points after missing his first eight shots.
The AP reports: Chris Paul and David West reminded the New Orleans Hornets of what a luxury it can be to have pair of All-Stars working together in crunch time. Paul capped a 26-point, 10-assist, five-steal performance by setting up West’s dunk with 12.6 seconds left that gave the New Orleans Hornets a 94-93 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night… Kevin Love had 23 points and 11 rebounds for the Timberwolves, one night after getting 17 points and 19 rebounds in a loss at San Antonio… Rasual Butler had 14 points for New Orleans and Hilton Armstrong, starting at center for Tyson Chandler, had 12 points. Ryan Gomes had 17 points for Minnesota, while Rodney Carney added 12, Foye 11 and Telfair 10.
The AP reports: Ron Artest could not have started any worse or finished much better. Houston’s veteran leader scored all of his 18 points in the second half, and the Rockets overcame the absence of center Yao Ming in a 95-84 victory over the New Orleans Hornets on Monday night… Luis Scola and Aaron Brooks each scored 14 points, and Scola had 12 rebounds to help the Rockets end New Orleans’ five-game home winning streak. Chris Paul had 29 points and 11 assists, while David West had 16 points and 13 rebounds for the Hornets, who’ve lost two straight… Carl Landry and Von Wafer each scored 12 points and Shane Battier 11 as the Rockets, holding on to the third seed in the Western Conference, prevented the Hornets from passing them in the standings.
The AP reports: Ben Gordon scored 27 points, John Salmons added 24, and the Chicago Bulls pounded the surging New Orleans Hornets 97-79 Saturday night despite another strong effort by Chris Paul. Back home after an 0-3 road trip, the Bulls wasted little time taking it to a Western Conference contender… Paul scored 29 after back-to-back 30 point performances despite the Bulls’ best efforts to contain him… Salmons buried 5-of-8 3s, while Gordon rebounded from two subpar performances by hitting 3-of-7 from beyond the arc. Brad Miller added 15 points and nine rebounds for Chicago, which sandwiched dramatic losses at Miami and at Philadelphia in the old Spectrum around a blowout at Orlando.
The AP reports: Chris Paul skidded through a slick spot and hit the deck hard early in the third quarter. He stayed down for a few seconds, worried he might have hurt his ribs. Fortunately—for New Orleans, anyway—Paul was wearing a pad that absorbed most of the impact. So he got back up to score 22 of his 30 points the rest of the way as the Hornets beat the Milwaukee Bucks 95-86 on Friday night… David West scored 21 and Rasual Butler hit a pair of key 3-pointers down the stretch for the Hornets, who have won nine of their last 10 games… Richard Jefferson scored 27 for Milwaukee, which has lost five of its last six.