SWING LANDS RAPTOR A MISS
NBA suspends red-hot power forward Serge Ibaka one game for fight with Chicago’s Robin Lopez at ACC,
MIAMI— It may have been a game-changing moment, but it wasn’t a season-altering incident and the Raptors can probably count themselves lucky after some NBA leniency towards Serge Ibaka.
The team’s power forward, best shotblocker, most efficient three-point shooter of late and one of the two engines that drive the team’s emerging defence was suspended only one game for his part in a fracas with Chicago’s Robin Lopez in Tuesday night’s game at the Air Canada Centre.
Ibaka will sit out Thursday night’s game here against the Heat and return Saturday to face the Dallas Mavericks. Lopez was suspended for one game as well and missed Chicago’s home game against the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night.
Toronto assistant coach Jamaal Magloire was also fined $15,000 for acting as other than a peacemaker in the skirmish, which broke out with about four minutes left in the third quarter of a 122-120 overtime win by the Raptors.
There were no extra financial penalties imposed on Ibaka or Lopez, aside from the loss of one game’s worth of salary — between $110,000 and $120,000 for each.
The repercussions of Ibaka’s actions were less severe than some in the organization feared. Not having him for one game is a blow, but it’s a shorter suspension that some figured and the incident did turn Tuesday’s game around.
The Raptors were 16 points in arrears, and seemingly destined for a 12th straight loss head to head against the Bulls, when the “fight” broke out and the emotional boost it gave the team — and the fans — was substantial.
“After that we started a little comeback there, and we were able to change the flow of the game and the pace of the game,” guard Fred Van Vleet said.
“You’ve got to defend yourself.” FRED VANVLEET ON TEAMMATE SERGE IBAKA (PHOTO)
“If something like that doesn’t get you going, and your competitive spirit going, I don’t know what will.
“Obviously we don’t want our guys to get suspended or things like that, but you’ve got to defend yourself when you’re in those positions and I think that’s what we did.”
If there was a game for Ibaka to miss, sitting out one against the Heat isn’t the end of the world. While his defence is a big key to Toronto’s recent success — the Raptors are 9-5 since he arrived, and since all-star guard Kyle Lowry had wrist surgery — Miami is a far more perimeteroriented team than one that pounds the ball inside.
The Raptors recalled Pascal Siakam from their D-League affiliate on Wednesday morning, presumably so he can fill Ibaka’s starting role, but playing P.J. Tucker at the four against the Heat is something the Raptors would have done regardless of Ibaka’s availability. The emergence of rookie centre Jakob Poeltl of late also eases the burden, while a 13-stitch cut to the right hand of Miami big man Hassan Whiteside — suffered in Wednesday’s game against the Suns — could keep him out of the lineup against the Raptors.
The emotional boost that Ibaka’s outburst gave the Raptors in a key game may prove to be far more im- portant in the long run than the 72nd game in an 82-game schedule. The team’s cohesion has never really been in doubt, but the way they galvanized around Ibaka and reacted to his fight spoke volumes.
“When guys start swinging, that’s when you’ve got to get them out of there,” Tucker said after the Bulls game. “You protect your teammate, but at the same time you make sure they don’t get in trouble as well.”
The discipline marks the first time a Raptor has been suspended by the league since Amir Johnson sat one game for throwing his mouthpiece at referee David Jones in Portland in December 2012.