Heat's Andersen suspended one game
Not long after NBA commissioner David Stern said publicly that Miami Heat forward Chris Andersen should be rebuked for his shove of Indiana Pacers forward Tyler Hansbrough in Thursday night's game, the league issued a one-game suspension.
After a review of the play on Friday, the NBA upgraded Andersen's foul from a Flagrant-1 to a Flagrant-2, NBA executive vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson announced.
Hansbrough was knocked to the floor and then shoved by Anderson with 9:02 remaining in the second quarter of the Heat's 90-79 victory over the Pacers in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals in Miami.
Andersen will sit out Saturday night's Game 6 in Indianapolis. The Heat lead the best-of-seven series 3-2.
Earlier Friday, Stern told NBC Sports Radio, "I do think he should have been ejected. I looked at the replays and, it seems to me, there was no immediate push or shove of him. He just hauled off and knocked down Tyler Hansbrough. I don't know what he was doing. And then he pushed him. And then he did not go gracefully to the bench."
Hansbrough finished with three points and two rebounds in 7 1/2 minutes and Andersen had four points and four rebounds in 18:20.
