Sunday, December 28, 2008

The first post-game stories from Dallas regarding Dirk Nowitzki's backhanded punch that bruised Matt Harpring's cheekbone indicated that the NBA was leaning toward not suspending him.

This, of course, would have been ridiculous.

After the infamous Indiana-Detroit brawl in 2004, league rules regarding such conduct are clear. A suspension is automatic if a player throws a punch, whether it connects or not.

Obviously, Nowitzki connected and he was ejected. I didn't think there was any question he would be suspended, either, until the league did not announce any suspension on Saturday.

When that happened, it looked like Nowitzki might somehow wiggle off the hook.

Three hours before Sunday's Mavs-Clippers game, however, word came down that Nowitzki had been suspended. It turned out his absence didn't stop Dallas, which crushed the Clippers. But it did cost Nowitzki $164,000, which is his per game salary this season.

Nowitzki blew off the media after the game against Utah, although coach Rick Carlisle talked to us and told reporters he thought the closed-fist, backhanded punch to Harpring's face was accidental.

Sure, and so was that shoe-throwing incident in Iraq a couple of weeks ago.

The most curious thing to me about the whole affair was the Mavericks' contention Nowitzki was somehow within his rights to smack Harpring.

The sequence started when second-year center Kyrylo Fesenko, who had five offensive rebounds in the Jazz's first 30 games, outfought Nowitzki for one early in the fourth quarter.

Nowitzki failed and complained that he had been fouled and, after the game, Fesenko admitted he probably pushed him, although he characterized his play as "not brutal."

After the rebound, Fesenko scored and, as the ball settled into the basket, Harpring and Nowitzki came together under the basket. Harpring swung his arm up to shoulder level and pushed Nowitzki, who pushed back. A split second later, Nowitzki swung his closed right hand into Harpring's face.

Game, set and match.

When that happened, there is no way -- in my opinion -- that Nowitzki could have avoided a suspension. I was just surprised it took the NBA until Sunday morning to inform the Mavericks. That's really not fair to Carlisle and the other Maverick players. The process should have been accelerated, even if someone in New York had to work late on Saturday night.

By the way, it was the second straight time Nowitzki has come to Utah and gotten suspended. Last March, he received another one-gamer for a flagrant foul on Andrei Kirilenko, who ended up missing a couple of games with a badly bruised hip when Nowitzki knocked him out of the air on a layup attempt.

Final thought: Nowitzki better be careful or he's going to get a reputation as a dirty player, at least in Utah. Worse yet, he's going to get a reputation among opponents as a 30-year-old with a lot of miles on his tires whose toughness is waning -- a player who needs star treatment from the officials and can now be frustrated by the kind of determined, fundamentally-sound defense that Kirilenko and the Jazz played against him.