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Nuggets' K-Mart suspended

By Aaron J. Lopez, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published April 3, 2008 at 2:54 p.m.
Updated April 4, 2008 at 3:43 p.m.

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Denver Nuggets starting forward Kenyon Martin.

Photo by Dennis Schroeder © The Rocky/2006

Denver Nuggets starting forward Kenyon Martin.

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Phoenix Suns forward Boris Diaw went down, and now Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin is out.

Martin has been suspended for Saturday's game against the Sacramento Kings after the NBA assessed him a flagrant foul for hitting Diaw in the face Monday night.

The decision, which came Thursday after a review by the league office, gave Martin six points under the league's flagrant-foul points system. A player is suspended for one game when he exceeds five points.

Martin, who was unavailable for comment after the suspension was announced, received a technical foul after tangling with Diaw with 3:52 left in the second quarter of the Nuggets' victory against the Suns.

"We try to focus on the contact made by the player, whether or not it was a basketball-related play," NBA vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson said. "In this case, we did not feel it was a basketball-related play."

The league's decision is not subject to appeal.

"We have the best officiating on the planet," Nuggets vice president of basketball operations Mark Warkentien said. "We will play without Kenyon."

It is the second time Martin has been suspended this season, both coming after reviews by Jackson's office.

The NBA upgraded a flagrant 1 to a flagrant 2 - resulting in an automatic one-game suspension - after Martin elbowed New Orleans forward Melvin Ely in the head on Dec. 12.

Martin now has four other flagrant-1 fouls and a flagrant 2 on his record this season.

The suspension leaves the Nuggets short-handed at an inopportune time. Martin is playing his best basketball since arriving in Denver in 2004 and the Nuggets are in a tight race with Dallas and Golden State for the final two Western Conference playoffs spots.

Martin, whose base salary is $13 million this season, will lose $118,181 in pay.

Strong reviews

When Nene returned to the court March 27, he gave the Nuggets an emotional lift. Three games into his comeback from cancer, he appears capable of giving them a physical one as well.

After a token 77-second cameo last week, Nene has played meaningful minutes the past two games, scoring eight points and grabbing nine rebounds in nearly 16 minutes.

The goal is for Nene to play 15 to 20 minutes by the end of the season and in the playoffs, should the Nuggets qualify for the postseason.

"We've got to be gradual with his steps because, conditionwise, there's no way we can get him in condition," coach George Karl said. "He's going to have to play breathing hard and feeling some burn in his gut."

Anthony hurting

Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony is feeling the effects of unwittingly serving as Shaquille O'Neal's rag doll.

Anthony didn't practice Thursday and might sit out again today because of pain and irritation in his left shoulder. The shoulder has bothered Anthony all season, but the discomfort reached a new level when the 7-foot-1, 325-pound O'Neal tugged on it sharply Tuesday night.

Anthony didn't make himself available to the media, but Karl termed the shoulder "not good."

"It's very tender," Karl said. "The whole thing is to calm it down to try to get it to where it's not irritated. Obviously, right now it's pretty irritated."

Despite the pain, Anthony is expected to play Saturday against the Kings.

lopezaa@RockyMountainNews.com

Getting physical

Flagrant fouls committed this season by Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin, who has been suspended for one game for exceeding five points (one point for flagrant 1 and two points for flagrant 2).

Date Opponent Foul type

Dec. 12 New Orleans Flagrant 2

Dec. 20 Houston Flagrant 1

Feb. 6 Utah Flagrant 1

Feb. 19 Boston Flagrant 1

April 1 Phoenix Flagrant 1

Comments

  • April 3, 2008

    3:55 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Kered writes:

    The REAL flagrant foul was the butcher job Floorwax gave to the National Anthem before the game...

  • April 3, 2008

    4:11 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Devil_Dog writes:

    He did hit Diaw in the face but it was clearly incidental contact, not intentional. Now the NBA wants to compound a horrible call by suspending the player. I agree punish the officials when they make a habit of bad calls and make it known to the public. I also agree that if some of the so called super stars were not given preferantial treatment maybe they wouldn't be quite the super star after all.

  • April 4, 2008

    7:28 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Spider writes:

    The Suns were being rowdy and complaining from the starting tip-off. If Kenyon would have cold-cocked the guy deliberately he should not have been suspended.