Atlanta Hawks: Zaza Pachulia and Jason Richardson suspended for Game 4
The NBA suspended Hawks center Zaza Pachulia and Magic guard Jason Richardson for Game 4 of the first-round Eastern Conference playoffs series Sunday at Philips Arena.
Pachulia and Richardson were ejected in the fourth quarter of Atlanta’s 88-84 Game 3 victory at Philips Arena.
The incident started after Pachulia fouled Magic center Dwight Howard and Howard followed through with an elbow to Pachulia’s head. Pachulia screamed in anger as Richardson came over to confront him.
Pachulia headbutted Richardson twice as they stood face-to-face; Richardson retaliated by smacking Pachulia in the face. The league said the players were suspended for those actions.
“I got elbowed after the foul,” Pachulia said today before the suspensions were announced. “I was just trying to show [officials] that I got elbowed. That wasn’t right. Suddenly Jason Richardson came behind me. I don’t know what he thought. He came behind me and started talking and that’s when everything started.”
Pachulia said the headbutts were not intentional.
“I was talking to him,” he said. “Maybe first one or two [were] like manner of talking but third one was like big one. That’s a tough situation: nerves, tension high, people screaming and you are just losing yourself.
“Maybe you have got to be more careful but it is a very tough situation. Very few people can control themselves in that situation, especially when you guys know my character. It was tough.”
Pachulia’s suspension severely damages Atlanta’s efforts to defend Howard. Of the five players who have checked Howard this season, only Pachulia and starting center Jason Collins have managed to hold their ground against Howard’s powerful post moves.
Collins has been most effective against Howard but he’s likely to be slowed after suffering a bruised tailbone while drawing a charging foul on Howard in Game 3. Collins did not participate in Atlanta’s light practice on Saturday but said he would play in Game 4.
Atlanta’s other options to defend include forward Josh Powell and centers Etan Thomas and Hilton Armstrong. Coach Larry Drew has avoided assigning Al Horford to guard Howard because he wants to avoid foul trouble for Horford.
“We still have bodies,” Drew said before the suspensions were announced. “Will the bodies still be effective, that’s the question.”
Pachulia played 19 minutes in Game 2, including 15 relatively effective minutes guarding Howard in the second half. Pachulia also harassed Howard while playing 26 minutes in Game 3 as Collins was limited to 17 minutes in part because of the back injury.
During Atlanta’s 103-93 victory Game 1, Collins was limited to 17 minutes because of foul trouble. Pachulia played nine minutes, Powell eight and Thomas seven.
“From yesterday’s game you might think, ‘They need Zaza for Dwight,’” Pachulia said today. “But we have great players, professionals and I expect them to step up if I am out.”
Richardson’s suspension creates a dilemma for the Magic. He’s been the primary defender against Hawks shooting guard Joe Johnson, whose size has created match up problems for the Magic.
J.J. Redick is likely to replace Richardson in the starting lineup. He missed the final 17 games of the regular season with an abdominal injury and coach Stan Van Gundy said before Game 3 that Redick still is affected by the injury.
The other shooting guard options for Orlando include Gilbert Arenas and Quentin Richardson. Arenas didn’t play in Game 3 and Richardson has logged 35 minutes in the series.
Pachulia has given the Hawks a jolt with his energy and toughness but he’s also earned a reputation among opponents for being a physical nuisance.
Earlier this month Houston guard Kyle Lowry needed six stitches to close a cut on his lip after a collision with Pachulia that he called “a dirty play by him.” A trainer held back Lowry as he tried to go after Pachulia.
This is the second time Pachulia has headbutted an opponent during a playoff game. In 2008 he tangled with Boston forward Kevin Garnett.
“I’m not trying to be dirty,” Pachulia said. “I am out there to play basketball, not fight. But if it comes to that situation one thing know is I am never going to back down from anybody.
“It’s not something I am trying to fight or show you something or prove something. If I feel disrespected like that, I am [reacting]. That’s what happened. It might be bad thing but everybody has own personality and that’s my personality.”
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189 comments Add your comment
drmaryb (*_-)
April 24th, 2011
2:33 pm
DUI!
Hey, The DUI hasn’t caught me yet either! I’m too slick for him.
Ha ha ha … Cuff me if you can, but you have to Catch me first!
I’m “winning” and, like Charlie Sheen – I’m Gone!
LOL!
Its my time!
April 24th, 2011
2:36 pm
Yea, Ive been waiting for Al to step up for years now. The guy is a “soft” defender and gets punked often. He runs his mouth pretty good to the press but the reality hes not a man in the locker room or a boss on the court. He actually makes this team worse because he wimps out from playing center and to accommodate his selfish demand Josh is forced to the perimeter to take bombs from the 3 position. If only Al could enforce the center lane and cup wed be a near contender. The best thing that could happen to the hawks is to move Al for a more establish defender, bring Josh back to the wing where he is free to take it to the cup and give weakside help to the real (horford’s own words) center.
Until that happens look for the hawks to be discombobulated. Woodson had them playing about as good as they get. Teague is still a burst under any coach. Time to ship this project.
We spent the off season stacking big bodies and shipping others to prepare for Orlando in the second round. Who would have thought that both the Hawks and Orlando would be taking steps backwards……
either one will get beat soundly in the second round….Amen goes there
Bottom line? Hawks 1 and done. They lose in the second round 4 games to 1
Shout out to the master. T.S.!
Irv
April 24th, 2011
2:37 pm
KevinM – DONT attack the basket and CANT attack the basket ate 2 different things. We all know they are essentially perimeter. That’s partly on the coach, but mainly on the players. If they really want to win, that is a proven formula. Too much emphasis on defending against DH and his dominance. Mindset needs to be how to chop down Goliath not how to implement strategies to tolerate him.
JeJe
April 24th, 2011
2:38 pm
Mark my word:
Josh will have a dominant game tonight and will post a near-triple double.
We all know this will happen. Most people hate him for how he played Friday (I think he could’ve been worse).
Now he’ll make us love him by dominating this game.
2:38 pm – JeJe
JeJe
April 24th, 2011
2:40 pm
Tonight, watch out for Jameer and Josh to really get it going.
Like I’ve said a thousand times, if Joe and Jamal combine for 45+ (44 is adequate), we win. A bit nervous Jamal will fall off though. This game is on Joe
JeJe
April 24th, 2011
2:46 pm
If this team wants to win in 5, it’ll take care of business at home in front of the disintegrating white towels, then wear the red unis on the road and win in Orlando. Gotta wear the red unis
Wabe
April 24th, 2011
2:48 pm
This does hurt the Hawks, but this may hurt the Magic more than it hurts the Hawks.
The Hawks philosophy this series has been to let Dwight get his and bog down on the 3-point shooters.
Dwight went off on the Hawks in game one for 40+ points, but the Hawks still managed to get a W. The same happened in game two – Dwight went off. Although we didn’t win game two, the game was still right there for the taking. We did manage to keep him somewhat in check compared to our first two games vs. him, but bottom line, you’re not gonna keep that guy down all the time. He’ll get his.
But for the Magic, they lose the guy that checks JJ. This forces Reddick into the starting lineup and Quentin Richardson will probably log some heavy minutes gaurding JJ as well. I’m assuming the doubles will be coming at JJ tonight, so the Hawks should be prepared, because they’ll be seeing open looks. The problem with this though is, you can’t have Josh roaming around the 3 point arc. They need to have him down low by design to help force Magic rotation. Nobody’s gonna leave their man to rotate to Josh.
You can look at Dwights numbers if you want. But, truth is, for the Hawks, when JJ has had decent to good games this series, the Hawks offense has been pretty good and efficient. Again, it doesn’t matter if Dwight goes off if we hold all the other guys in check. But, if JJ’s going, it opens up opporutunities for everybody else within our offense. We’ve performed fairly well against this team when JJ’s got it going, and with no Richardson, the Magic lose one of their better 3-point shooters + their guy to defend JJ.
drmaryb (*_-)
April 24th, 2011
2:49 pm
JeJe
Thank You for the holler – back! Yeah, JRich blowing his wind bag over at the newspaper. Talking ’bout we definitely lost more on the suspension.
What an ego-idiot! Like SlimJr says, “kick rocks”
As if SVG didn’t have enough problems already, now he has to compensate for the loss of his idiot “invisible” 2 guard.
ZaZa for us has been phenomenal since the trade deadline has passed.
He has the Proverbial – Chip on his shoulder and has been playing inside like a rabid dog! He is only 26 years old now and we all know how long it takes the big man to develop, but if can find a pet move this Summer, we may have found our Center of the Future.
MJ did it with Luc Longley and after rebounding, all he had was a base line jumper. I think Za already has that, we just never use it.
Too bad we didn’t hire Doug Collins, heh?
What do you think, JeJe? ZaZa at Center or am I reaching?
drmaryb (*_-)
April 24th, 2011
2:58 pm
Spike It!
Watching: Jet Li’s Fearless on Spike TV.
The Hawks should do that, like Phil Jackson does, have the team wacth a motivational Movie to get their mind right. I just watched
Jet Li slay the Giant and overcome power, size and strength with
speed, technique and skill.
Jet Li used the Giant’s:
Power for momentum
Size for leverage
Strength for weakness
_________________
Good Stuff! Too bad I don’t play, cause I’m ready!
JeJe
April 24th, 2011
2:58 pm
Hopefully Dwight is tired now that he only had 1 day of rest
JeJe
April 24th, 2011
3:00 pm
I don’t think ZaZa is far off from being a starting center. When this team used to suck up until a couple yeras ago, I always felt like he was a top reserve center.
I have maintained my belief that ZaZa is only effective in physical matchups. Versus non-physical teams, that’s where he tries to take over and do those Michael Jordan moves. He is one of 2 non-wimps on this team (Kirk is the other) and we need him out there. He is also the fan-favorite on this team (Jamal may compete with him on that one, but I think Z got it).
The ovation ZaZa got when ejected the other night was one of the loudest ovations I’ve ever heard at a sports game
Wabe
April 24th, 2011
3:02 pm
And say what you want about Horford, but Horford’s at least got a go-to aspect part of his game. He knows what he does well and what he doesn’t do well. He may shy away from the post, but I’m assuming this is because he knows he’s not that type of player.
Our other PF though seems stuck playing towards his weaknesses. Talk about the system all you want, but truth is, J.Smith at some point should know that staying on the perimeter and shooting jumpers is not his thing. How many years has dude been in the league? How many people do you think have told the dude directly or indirectly that shooting long jumpers isn’t his game? But dude still manages to take the dumbest of shots and exercise terrible shot selection. Dude has had a SF on him for most of this series, but hasn’t really done what you’d expect to do with a mismatch. You’re bailing Turk out sitting on the perimeter. Get that ball inside and force the double to come.
I’m want to reiterate. I’m not a Josh Smith hater. Dude has a world of potential. But at some point, after so many years in the league, you’ve gotta know what type of player you are. This dude’s still playing like the player he wants to be. I completely co-sign with the notion that a good coach who defines Smith’s role in an offense will do wonders for his game/identity. But, all 5 players are working with the same coach/system. Nobody on this team seems more lost offensively than J.Smith. The other guys may not be the players we want/need them to be, but they at least play within themselves. They know what they’re capable of.
drmaryb (*_-)
April 24th, 2011
3:18 pm
FIYAH!
Northcyde & JeJe on fiyah! A lot to chew up on now.
ASA @ Center need to put the onus on himself to earn those two AS appearances! Be That Type of Player that Amare said you are not!
Be that Man! Rebound, bang and get dirty like ZaZa taught you!
Since you laid TJ Ford out cold in Toronto, your rookie year and got suspended. You ain’t scared no one since. Let’s Go ASA!
Scare the little kids and make them cry in the stands tonight!
Be the Boogie Man!
Aye Marvin! Can you please box out and grab 12 boards, you ain’t even got to score? For The Love of God! Please do something! Anything besides just breathing.
Samuel
April 24th, 2011
3:21 pm
Even though the Hawks are in control of this series, tonight’s game is still a “must win” IMO. You don’t want to be in a 3 game series without home court advantage. The play was officiated as it should have been. ZaZa made a hard foul on Dwight and payed for it. JRich should never have entered the situation. Howard is a big boy, he can handle himself. ZaZa clearly head butted Richardson twice and Richardson slapped him. Both should have been suspended. Ehan can foul so we won’t be hurt that much. Reddick can shoot so Orlando won’t be hurt that much. pretty much evens out.
drmaryb (*_-)
April 24th, 2011
3:27 pm
Well …
“I completely co-sign with the notion that a good coach who defines Smith’s role in an offense will do wonders for his game/identity. ”
_________________
Well, didn’t Mr. Woodson do that perfectly?
Its my time!
April 24th, 2011
3:28 pm
Our best power forward is “forced” to play on the perimeter to accommodate our center’s demand to play another position.
I dont think this is a case that JJ and Crawford are beating the Magic as it is a case that we have more balance and dept that Orlando. Outside of Howard this is a very, very, average team. Atlanta has 1 legitimate allstar and a coach’s choice reserve, plus stars in Josh and Crawford. They are much deeper and more balanced than the Magic. We should be blowing this team out.
Atlanta is clearly the better of the two Also Rans. Either one is done in the second round.
drmaryb (*_-)
April 24th, 2011
3:30 pm
Oh yeah …
Youngest player to 1K blocks!
Runner Up for DPOY!
______________
All under the guise of Mr. Woodson. Since then, nothing!
JeJe
April 24th, 2011
3:32 pm
Dwight unfortunately has not been shooting FTs horrendously.
I’m still waiting for a 2-12 or 4-15 performance from the line. How the hell did he go 15-19 in game 2? I don’t even think Joe Johnson could go 15-19 in a game.
Can a player reading this (JAMAL) PLEASE tell the coach that Joe should NOT be allowed to take technical free throws under any situation? Please let Kirk, Al, Marvin (if he’s in), or Jamal get the honors
How does this guy ALWAYS miss Technical FTs?
drmaryb (*_-)
April 24th, 2011
3:33 pm
Bang!
Holiday Williams – WOW! Go Philly!
Its my time!
April 24th, 2011
3:33 pm
Good point Drmary(*_-) Woodson fought Josh and brought out the best in him. Coaching Does that.
JeJe
April 24th, 2011
3:34 pm
Last year, Orlando had one of the deepest lineups I’ve ever seen.
They had Barnes, Pietrus, Gortat, Anderson, and Redick all off the bench, unless Barnes started.
Now their bench consists of Redick (hurt), Anderson, Arenas (sucks and hurt), Duhon (sucks), and Earl Clark (is he still alive?)
drmaryb (*_-)
April 24th, 2011
3:36 pm
Hawks should use Etan or Powell to elbow Dwight into next week and tell him – “see you next Thursday!”
Make Dwight lose it and get suspended for game 5.
JeJe
April 24th, 2011
3:52 pm
Exactly, drmaryb.
Let’s just get Dwight frustrated. We gotta make him commit some fouls. If Horford can man up Dwight at all, that’s HUGE because Dwight always leaves the center for weakside help on Joe, so he may have to stay at bay with Al at the 5.
MUST WIN
drmaryb (*_-)
April 24th, 2011
4:07 pm
Gold Diggers!
I ain’t saying he’s a gold-digger, cause he got needs …
- kanye shrug –
Anyway, like JeJe said we need some gold-digging from Joe and Jamal.
We need no less that 44 pts from that back court tandem and whatever we can get from Captn’ Kirk offensively to go with his perimeter defense.
The guys in the paint need to go hard at Dwight and draw some contact fouls on him, make him WORK! He will get tired eventually.
Or, we die trying!
Najeh Davenpoop
April 24th, 2011
4:08 pm
“Jamal said the pressure is on Orlando now. WTF? If they win today, they win homecourt [and most likely the series]
‘
WE MUST HAVE A MUST-WIN MENTALITY TODAY.”
Real talk. Whoever wins this game has the advantage going forward in this series.
Prison Mike
April 24th, 2011
4:11 pm
How is a player playing sf going to “play inside” when he has to get by his guy(6-10) and then a 6-11 monster that has no responsibility to his man and plays 90% help defense.
Some people play too many video games on easy where their favorite player scores 100 in a quarter and some how relates it to real life.
With that said I haven’t counted one pick and roll opportunity for JS this series and not many for Al for that matter.
JeJe
April 24th, 2011
4:14 pm
Josh Smith, as much as people hate him right now, has been damn good at penetrating the lane and hitting that lefty hook shot. Is there any chance LD can get Smoove some post opportunities?
If HORF is at the 5, Dwight can’t drift the lane enough to help. If COLLINS or another scrub is at the 5, Dwight can do whatever the hell he wants out there.
THINK, LD
JeJe
April 24th, 2011
4:19 pm
LOL @ D’Antoni saying Rondo should try playing on Minny and see how he ends up.
We all see Bibby sucking on Miami. If Bibby was on Boston, would he come close to putting up Rondo’s numbers? No. Rondo is obviously a special player
Najeh Davenpoop
April 24th, 2011
4:25 pm
Northcyde has a point — if Joe and Smoove can guard three positions, it shouldn’t be asking too much for Al to be able to guard positions other than his “natural” one. Strangely, though, Al seems to be much better at guarding people smaller than him on the perimeter than people bigger than him in the post. In more ways than one he’s almost a SG/SF in a PF’s body, who on this team happens to play center.
With that said, I’m more worried about the inevitable foul trouble and subsequent bench time from LD he will get if he has to guard Dwight for stretches at a time. He is too valuable on offense and on the boards to sit for long periods of time again. I’d like to see Collins get 30+ minutes today if he’s not in foul trouble. I know he doesn’t rebound, but Smoove and Al are more than capable of compensating for his rebounding deficiencies from the SF and PF positions. Each of them has a double digit rebounding game in the series — now is the time for both to get 10 boards in the same game.
KevinM
April 24th, 2011
4:32 pm
DanToni the moron wishes he had a Rondo!
The Knicks are on summer break as of today!
KevinM
April 24th, 2011
4:36 pm
We are too small with Al and Josh being our back line.
Dwight will go off today….I hope we have enough to offset?
terrell
April 24th, 2011
4:44 pm
Knicks look as bad as we looked against Orlando last year. Maybe worse.
JeJe
April 24th, 2011
4:48 pm
I wonder if Rondo adds a jumpshot this summer? I’ve never seen this many superstar PGs before.
Whoever plays the hottest on a certain night gets all the recognition. One day it’s Rondo, then it’s Rose, then Westbrook (OKC is quietly going to get to the WCF)
Najeh Davenpoop
April 24th, 2011
4:51 pm
Gotta love the Pacers and Sixers. After three demoralizing losses both teams could have easily folded in Game 4 like the Hawks in the second round the last two years, but they scrapped their way to Game 5.
terrell
April 24th, 2011
4:53 pm
This season will be judged on how we do in the 2nd rd imo. Hell, we had Orlando’s number in the reg season. Only to drop eggs against the likes of the Knicks and Sixers. And those home blowouts are still lingering in the back of my mind. Beat Chicago in a 7 game series, I’ll take back everything I’ve ever said about LD ,and some of the “core” members. But until then………………………….
terrell
April 24th, 2011
4:53 pm
If we get to the 2nd rd, that is.
honest_abe
April 24th, 2011
5:20 pm
the hawks never play well when ahead. whether it be in a series or a game. they don’t have a vocal leader to push them them over the top. when you’re ahead you need a certain type of “killer” instinct which the hawks sorely lack. if they want to win tonight they need to come out with a sense of desperation, crazy energy and some really physical play.
josh smith’s number looked average which is fine for some … but once again it’s what doesn’t show up in the box score that is so maddening. will someone please take a sign to the game that read… “josh you’re wide open for a reason” … not to mention 4 turnovers the last of which was an inexcusable across court pass with 2 minutes to play that landed in the 2nd row. ugh.
Grandad
April 24th, 2011
5:58 pm
Message for – ” Its my time! ”
Hatter – I hope all is well.
Go Hawks !
terrell
April 24th, 2011
8:03 pm
Wtf is Josh doing??