Miami Heat players Udonis Haslem and Dexter Pittman suspended for flagrant fouls in Game 5 – NBA Update
The Eastern Conference Semi Final series between the Miami Heat and the Indiana Pacers has been an intense physical matchup, and things really boiled up in the Game-5, which saw three ugly fouls, all of which were initially adjudged
flagrant-1 by the match officials.
But given the audacious nature of these fouls, the NBA decided to review them and the verdict that has come has really shook up Miami Heat.
Udonis Haslem has been suspended for the Game 6, Dexter Pittman for three games, while the category of flagrant by Tyler Hansbrough of the Indiana Pacers has been increased to 2.
Udonis Haslem has been suspended for his foul committed on Tyler Hansbrough, which clearly looked to be in retaliation to latter’s flagrant foul on Dwyane Wade earlier in the game.
Haslem insisted after the Game 7 that he meant no harm with the play and was going for the ball; however the review committee has deemed it otherwise and given the verdict.
Hansbrough`s flagrant foul on Wade which came in the second quarter and left a cut on Wade’s eye has only been updated to a flagrant 2 and no disciplinary action has been taken against him.
The third and the worst of the three fouls came in the finals seconds of the matchup when Dexter Pittman took an intentional shot at Lance Stephenson. The NBA reviewing committee has slapped Pittman with a three match suspension
which makes him unavailable to take any further part in this series.
Miami player Shane Battier has shown disappointment over the verdict and believed that the criteria of handing out punishments like that are beyond the understanding of players.
He did however add, nothing can be done instead of moving on now and vowed to put up a team performance for Haslem and Pittman.
“It's very disappointing, obviously," Miami forward Shane Battier said Wednesday night. "But we're a resilient group. ... The verdict process is a mystery to players, and so we don't get caught up in it. We can't control it. We
know the NBA's going to do what they feel they need to do and we need to live with the consequences. So it's really out of our hands, not worth getting riled up. We're going to put together an effort that will make Udonis and Dexter proud."
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