Howard: I didn't intend to hurt anyone
UPDATED:
Howard: I didn't intend to hurt anyone
UPDATED:
The NBA has suspended Orlando center Dwight Howard for Thursday's Game 6 against the Sixers for an elbow to the head of Samuel Dalembert. The suspension is without pay.
Howard, the Magic center, hit Dalembert, the Sixers center, with 9:15 remaining in the first period of Orlando’s 91-78 victory over the 76ers in Game 5 last night.
"I'm very disappointed but I have to respect the NBA's decision," Howard said in a statement. "I didn't intend to hurt anyone. I have complete faith in my teammates that they will come out and get the job done tomorrow night."
Howard was assessed a technial foul, although the rules stipulate that an elbow delivered above the shoulders includes an ejection.
The Sixers alerted the league to the situation last night. Commissioner David Stern was in attendance at Amway Arena.
Magic coach Stan Van Gundy told Orlando reporters that he had not decided if Marcin Gortat or Tony Battie will start for Howard. Asked if he thought the league would suspend Howard after he watched the video, "No, I didn't. I didn't really have any idea what they might do."
"I don't have any big reaction," Van Gundy said. "They give you the news and you have to prepare your team to go without him. You just move on."
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Magic guard Courtney Lee will miss Game 6 with a fractured sinus, the result of an inadvertent elbow from teammate Dwight Howard, who was attempting to block a shot by the Sixers' Willie Green.
Veteran guard Anthony Johnspn would seem the likely replacement for Lee in the starting lineup.
Van Gundy said he didn't know if Courtney Lee could play a possible Game 7. Regarding Lee, he said: "It's been that kind of season, what can I tell you."
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Also, game time for Thursday's Game 6 at the Wachovia Center has been set for 7:30 p.m.
What is really funny is they didn't replay it in the arena. We were in decent seats but it happened pretty quickly and on the same end we were on but we didn't catch it. Even the incident with Lee wasn't replayed. When he went down everyone was standing so you couldn't see him and the next thing we knew he was being helped off the court. So they knew Howard looked bad in both incidents.— iammsmaam
Comment removed.- howard sent david stern a thank-you note so he doesn't have to listen to van gundy's whining.— natedog
- Dwight shouldn't have thrown the elbow, but can you blame the guy? He had hands in his face right before it happened after the ball had gone through the basket. If anything, he was trying to keep things going while Dalembart was hanging on his jersey. For him to get a technical foul and then a suspension a DAY LATER is ridiculous. A fine would have been much more appropriate. To Magic fans getting heated about all this message board nonsense...don't take it too seriously: 76ers fans are a joke. I had a lady from Philly tell me that they give 76ers fans unlimited food and beer for 30 bucks just to keep attendance steady.— rick_nerrington
- this has been a great series and now things are really interesting. If the sixers can win game six against the short handed (or short elbowed) magic then game seven could be a classic. Sixers need another outside shooter/scorer in the draft to make them really dangerous.— NBAdraftRoom.com
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- "He didn't want to hurt anyone!?" Just what does he think an elbow thrown at a head means, a love-tap? The home team doesn't get the calls, Orlando has been getting the calls all series. Howard gets away with traveling, charging, defensive three seconds, offensive three seconds and holding. If called properly, he would have finished all the games on the bench. If the officials had any integrity he would have been ejected from the game for that, as well as suspended for tonight's game.— ricky
- All of you whiners can start whining your way to the off season hoping for some help... I told you the Magic would STILL beat you guys without Howard. Take this time-off to think about how to stop worrying about who gets penalized, who gets suspended, and worry about being better fans. (not to mention Dalembert elbowed Turkoglu in the head tonight, and I'm guessing none of you will start calling for him to be suspended for the 1st game of next season. Its funny that turkoglu got tossed... lol) See you next year Philly.— OrlandMagic Fan
- no doubt intent to injure 5 minute power play and Sammy if he had a functioning brain would have hit the floor hard.i felt that from home.Old school both benches empty now ,noone says a word— lawrence2465
Bob Cooney has been at the Daily News for more than 20 years, working in the sports department for the past 15. This is his third season on the Sixers beat. He has covered just about everything, but mostly college basketball, where he was the La Salle beat writer for six seasons. E-mail Bob at cooneyb@phillynews.com and follow him on Twitter.
