OUCH - That smarts, if you are a Suns fan...

That really sux. Nice work Horry. Spurs can easily cover Horry, the Suns need Amare in the game. Spurs don't deserve to win it like this.

Rat10 - agreed. Takes the wind out of the series somewhat, but also shows a severe lack of judgement on behalf of Amare and Diaw. It wasn't even that hard a foul. Looked alot worse than it actually was. No need to jump the bench and run on the court.

thedoctor agreed, Nash did the Italian Soccer team proud going down that hard...
just another big shot for Horry...

1 sub for 2 starters.

Disagree. It looked like an AFL move. Nash got thrown into the bench.

The problem with the leaving-the-bench rule is that it's a natural reaction. Throwing a punch in a fight less so, but stepping onto the court is natural.

As Nash said, how many times do benchies step onto the court when cheering a play??

What a joke..... David Stern needs to take a good hard look at himself.... this ruins the only series left worth watching this year...... and..... To "The Doctor" and "DB5", Nash weighs about 85kg and Horry weighs about 105kg...... work out the math...... you don't need to be a rocket scientist to understand that body check from Horry when you are running full throttle at him isn't going to hurt..... and if your mathematical ability is well below that of a Rocket Scientist how about just watching the footage and watching Nash go Horizontally into the scorers bench and hit the ground flat on his back.......

I bet the Doctor and DB5 also believe Bruce Bowen is a fair player.

It reminds me of a grand final i may or may not have been involved in, one player from one of the teams had to leave at 3/4 time to go to work, so he may or may not have provoked the best player on the other team into a fight getting them both ejected and the one who had to work got a gf trophy.

Unfortunately Horry has proved his worth once again... "Big/Cheap (take your pick) Shot Bob..."... Pity since the guy is usually one of the classiest players on the Spurs... Oh well... Stoudamire and Diaw only have themselves to blame... Question: Tim also left the bench during an ealier altercation and walked onto the court before Jacque Vaughn (i think) pulled hum back to the bench - is this a case of '...All animals are equal - but some animals are more equal than others...'???

Nah chop chop, I don't think Bowen is fair..
I just like good hard playoff basketball...ala Bulls v Pistons in the 90's.
The foul wasn't that hard, I bet Nash would be hurting more from the nose but..

I swear someone from the Suns has slept with Mrs Stern

OR

Duncan or Pop has slept with Mrs Stern and has video of it....

This ruling is a disgrace, the Spurs have been bashing the Suns all series (refer to Bowen is dirty pig thread) and nothing has been done to them. Bowen's knee to Nash's sack, Bowen's kick to Amare has all been forgotten with no further penalty. Amare and Boris leave the bench, but don't really involved (good work Marc I) and cop games for it.

Interesting enough, when Elson had that dunk in the 2nd (I think) and was accidentally undercut by Jones, Duncan and Bowen both left the bench and walked onto the court....

This series now has a astrix next to it titled "Stern screws the Suns".

I think Phoenix can still win without Amare and Diaw. Marion prefers to play as a 4 man anyway, lets not forget he is easily capable of a 30+ point game with 15 rebounds to boot. Thomas will still hold Duncan with some occassional double cover. They will rely on Bell & Barbosa to step up their offence and run the Spurs off their old feet. My money is still on Nash, Marion, Bell and Barbosa to outscore the spurs.

I would hardly say that the Suns have held Duncan. He has been killing them all series.

Lets not get too precious though - Bowen is no Keith Askins... Anyone remember this guy - at least Bowen makes an effort to make his contacts look unintentional... Askins (i think now an assistant for Riley) was Riley`s favorite hired goon off the bench durin his first tour of duty in Florida... Search "keith askins flagrant"... Plenty there... Guys, berate - but at the same time appreciate Bowen for the pro he is in his specialization...

I consider 30 & 12 for Duncan "Held" (Or 21 pts as in game 4), he is not doing that much more than his reg season numbers, superstars in the playoffs should be going for 40+ ala Boozer. If they "HOLD" him to 30 & 10 and Nash, Marion, Bell and Barbosa play to their potential, Phoenix will win by 20.

Great Stuff Robert Horry

Big Shot Rob
is now
Big Hit Rob

Suns have been crying all series
long and are too soft for
playoff basketball.

Spurs want it more and Amare
knows what the rules are about
getting off the bench so
he can't complain.

Go you SPURS

There have been much harder fouls than Horry's in the playoffs. Did anyone see Richardson's on Okur? Horry got what he deserved for a clumsy attempt to put backcourt pressure on the best PG in the league. If the foul was in the middle of the court it wouldn't have been an issue, but it wasn't so Horry copped a suspension.

BUT, it's not his fault that two young Suns players were dumb enough to run 22 feet from their own bench.

I think Bowen is a great defender who uses ANYTHING to gain an advantage. He can be dirty sometimes, but so was Rodman and Oakley and most of the great defensive Pistons and Knicks teams. If the Suns are not prepared for playoff ball, they will never win a title. The Bulls overcame it and beat the Pistons and Knicks. If the Suns can get past it they are good enough to beat anybody.

I still think the physicality of this series was the norm in the Knicks/Pistons/Bulls series in times past. Even Portland in the early 90's were very physical. Not sure why it's such an issie these days.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2007/news/story?id=2871615

See the incident from a few angles at ESPN.com . Nash does not hit the bench horizontally. He is running at full speed trying to shoot the gap between Horry and the sideline and is at an awkward angle when Horry makes contact, resulting in him losing his footing.

The foul doesn't even rate in the top 20 hard fouls I've seen this year. It's been blown way out of proportion because of the suspensions of Amare and Diaw, which are their own faults.

Steve Kerr's opinion from The NBA site, he was actually at the game!!!....... note his characterisation of Horry's foul and his opinion on Duncan and Bowen leaving the bench when Elson and Jones got tangled up!

"Both players left the bench late in the game following Robert Horry's flagrant foul of Steve Nash. Under the letter of the law, each player would be automatically suspended for Game 5. In fact, the precedent that has been set by the league is that there are no exceptions to the rule. Leave the bench area and you're automatically suspended. (See Patrick Ewing, Knicks vs. Heat, 1997.) Never mind that Horry instigated the events with a dirty, thuggish takedown of Nash. Rules are rules, according to the NBA.

However, if the league decides to suspend Diaw and Stoudemire, it may have to suspend Tim Duncan and Bruce Bowen as well.

In a play that went entirely unnoticed until well after the game was over, both Duncan and Bowen actually left San Antonio's bench early in the second quarter after Francisco Elson and James Jones were entangled. Replays clearly show Duncan walking several steps onto the court as Elson and Jones appeared to be ready to get into it. Bowen then followed Duncan onto the floor, grabbed him and led him back to the bench. If the league does indeed follow the letter of the law, both Spurs players would also be suspended for Game 5"

I wonder if this is the NBAs way of making up for the "Crawford Incident" a few weeks past???

ba ha ha ha...
On that note Chop Chop, better follow the letter of the law and start trawling through game tapes of the whole season, just in case it has happened at another time...pfft
Game is over, call wasn't called, get over it Suns, hopefully Thomas or someone else can step up for Stoudamire and keep this series as hard fought out as it has been.

"In a play that went entirely unnoticed until well after the game was over, both Duncan and Bowen actually left San Antonio's bench early in the second quarter after Francisco Elson and James Jones were entangled. Replays clearly show Duncan walking several steps onto the court as Elson and Jones appeared to be ready to get into it. Bowen then followed Duncan onto the floor, grabbed him and led him back to the bench. If the league does indeed follow the letter of the law, both Spurs players would also be suspended for Game 5"

Unfortunately for the Suns, the league ruled that the Elson-Jones tangle was not deemed to be an altercation so no suspensions for Duncan and Bowen.

I tend to agree with Chris Sheridan from ESPN who has called the suspensions of Stoudemire and Diaw "utterly, profoundly, alarmingly, unreasonably ridiculous."

Here Here Rat, clearly DB5 thinks he has a better understanding of the situation than ex NBA Champion and commentator at the game - Steve Kerr.

Chopper, Steve Kerr ain't in this conversation. Look at the footage from a few angles yourself. Most certainly a flagrant foul, but not as bad as it looks once slowed down and considered from another angle.

Rat10 and Chopper, the suspensions are in line with league rules which are clear and have been enforced in playoff situations in the past. It's the same old argument - should a player be suspended for a relatively minor incident in the playoffs? or should the stage of the season be taken into account?

Put it this way - had this incident occured in a regular season game, we would not be talking about it. Players would serve their suspensions, end of story. Because it effects a playoff game, the NBA should implement a new set of rules? No way.

I don't really follow the NBA, and I certainly don't have any allegiance to any teams or players. I did have a look at this incident out of curiosity and what I saw was a pretty big bloke absolutely nail a comparitively small bloke.

The fact that Horry literally threw his shoulder into Nash without making any attempt on the ball and then immediately walk away indicates to me that he knew exactly what he was doing. That to me, was to try extremely hard to hurt Steve Nash.

2 games? He should get 10 just for trying to hurt someone that hard.

As for the other 2, well thems the rules.

Horry certainly achieved what he wanted, eh? He might not have injured Steve Nash, but he hurt the Suns.

I just hope they can do it, because it would be unfortunate for a team to lose a series because of an incident that was clearly the other team's fault.

If the NBA did suspend Duncan and Bowen they should make a decision that the suspensions of two player from each team cancel each other out and then we would get to see all the best players in game 5. Horry sits.

whats considered 'leaving' the bench anyway. Diaw never stepped foot on the court.

I love it how stern canceled his trip to phoenix for game 5.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6Sq0uuaMHY

would horry even have been suspended if amare and diaw didn't leave the bench? i say no.

ELG - I think he would have been anyway. I believe he was supended 1 game for the flagrant foul, and one for making contact with Bell's shoulder with his forearm (pushing)

It was a foul worthy of a suspension, and he got it.

See this article for a balanced, unbiased view of the situation. Explains the basis for the decision rather than a Suns/Spurs fan's take on why their team has come off second best from the officiating and league rules.

http://myespn.go.com/profile/truehoop?archiveId=24&entryId=70

At least D'antoni will have whine about when they lose again.

Chop chop, I never said I had a better understanding, it is called an o-p-i-n-i-o-n...we all have one...
The players know the rules, how many times has it happened??
Bottom line-leave the bench, face the chance of suspension..

"I swear someone from the Suns has slept with Mrs Stern

OR

Duncan or Pop has slept with Mrs Stern and has video of it...."

hahaha and I bet Duncan or Pop still wouldnt crack a smile

I gotta say, this is an absolute BS decision. How Boris even got involved in this is beyond me. From what I can tell, he took a couple of steps, not even going onto the court, then went straight back to the bench when the coaches told him to.

Amare definitely broke the rule, but how can anyone prove that he went up there to actually cause havoc? The immediate reaction of anyone when a teammate gets shoved to the the ground is to go to them, whether it's to help their mate up or shove the other guy away.

For me, that's what is the biggest crime. The NBA is so dead-set on turning their players into robots, they've gone and possibly ruined this series.

Neither Amare or Boris even ended up close to anyone, didn't cause any harm at all, yet they have to sit out game 5, which was going to be the biggest game of the series, maybe the entire playoffs.

Thats absolute bullshit. he did nothing!! NBA should cut him some slack.

They didn't exactly do nothing, but in this case the punishment doesn't fit the crime

I still cant see diaw doing anything wrong. stoudemire was definitely going at Horry.

it's too bad James jones didnt throw a punch at Elson... that would have been an 'altercation', and since duncan was on the court, automatic suspension, right?

Mr Clutch (#134365), you're absolutely right about D'Antoni whining - but at least he whines in a creative and quotable way:

You know we do have the most powerful microscopes and telescopes in the world in Arizona ... you could use those instruments and not find a shred of fairness or common sense in that decision.