More differences of opinion
Players surprised no Clippers fined or suspended
To the Rockets, the NBA’s inaction seemed more frustrating than the action taken Wednesday.
As much as the Rockets were unhappily surprised with the two-game suspensions given to Trevor Ariza and Gerald Green, citing the precedent of one-game suspensions in similar circumstances, the NBA ruling that Clippers forward Blake Griffin would not be penalized in any way for brushing past coach Mike D’Antoni seemed particularly vexing.
“We feel that it’s over,” Rockets president Tad Brown said Thursday. “The league has made it clear on their ruling. We feel the comparables were such we didn’t expect a multiple-game suspension. Certainly thought there may be a suspension based on similar instances in the past.
“Coach is just a really good man. The fact he wants to let it go, he wants to move on, is something you have to respect. We were very surprised. Let’s just put it that way. When there is a physical kind of situation in any regard, which, based on the video, seemed to be potentially pre-determined, that’s troubling. But Mike just wants to move forward. We want our guys to … control the passion to stay focused on the court.”
Asked if the team was surprised Griffin was not penalized, Rockets guard Eric Gordon said: “Very surprised. He hit Coach during the game. It’s crazy, but you just have to move on and roll with the punches.”
Gordon also cited the shouts from the bench by the Clippers’ Austin Rivers and the play on which Griffin threw the ball hard at him while falling out of bounds after a foul had been called. Gordon said he did not mind that Griffin threw the ball high, hitting him in the back rather than in the face, but that it was unnecessary.
‘It was nuts’
“It didn’t really make sense for him to do that,” Gordon said. “He knew the situation. We had the foul, and I know I nudged him out of bounds, but the call was already called. They got away with a lot. It was a physical game, and they got away with so many things.
“You also had Austin Rivers talking crazy, and he stood literally on the court. I thought that was usually a fine or something. It was nuts that that was missed and that we got all the punishment. Everybody knows he was talking crazy, but standing on the court during game play, and he wasn’t even active — I don’t know what to say.”
Kiki VanDeWeghe, the NBA’s executive vice president, basketball operations, said the suspensions were based in part on what could have happened in the locker room. He said Griffin was not penalized because there was not more contact.
Asked if the same potential for a more serious and even dangerous result should have been considered when weighing Griffin’s brushing against D’Antoni, Brown said he discussed that with VanDeWeghe.
“You make one step here or there, and all of a sudden you’ve got a coach who weighs a buck-80 getting steamrolled by a guy who goes 270 going as fast as he can down the court,” Brown said. “It’s concerning, but it didn’t happen, and it wasn’t addressed that way. We accept that. Mike accepts that.”
While D’Antoni was arguing that a blocked shot of a Gordon drive should have been called goaltending, Griffin ran down the floor pointing at D’Antoni and brushed against him as he ran past. After a foul on Chris Paul, D’Antoni complained to official Michael Smith as Griffin came over and shouted at D’Antoni. Both then cursed at one another.
“It doesn’t bother me,” D’Antoni said of Griffin’s not being penalized. “Obviously, he shouldn’t have bumped into me. I reacted. I probably used some cuss words I shouldn’t have used. It’s not a great move to bump a coach. Then again, it’s in the heat of battle. Things happen on the floor. Things can’t happen when you get off the floor.
“Everybody’s got adrenaline going. That’s why the NBA has to be sure they stop it before it starts. You see it escalated as the game goes on and turned into something nobody wants.”
Blessed are peacemakers
After the game, Ariza and Green attempted to enter the Clippers’ locker room in an act the NBA ruled “a hostile verbal altercation.” Chris Paul and James Harden were determined to have been “peacemakers,” VanDeWeghe said, and were not penalized.
“We shouldn’t have gone in,” D’Antoni said. “The NBA tries to get it right. You could argue too severe, not severe. You take the punishment and go on.”
If nothing else, Brown said the Rockets will not be going into other teams’ locker rooms again.
“It was a very emotional game, as it should have been,” Brown said. “A lot of things wrapped up into that. But you need to control your emotions afterward. Mike has had that conversation with the team. I’ve talked to a number of the guys. Daryl (Morey, the Rockets’ general manager) has talked to a number of the guys. Tilman (Fertitta, the Rockets’ owner) has spoken to the guys. You love the passion. You love the emotion. You have to have that to play the game at the highest level. You just have to control it when it’s done and put that into the next game.”