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Spurs think Barbosa threw punch
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After being called a dirty team by Amare Stoudemire during last year’s playoffs and drawing the ire of the Suns and their fans for several unsportsmanlike plays in the series after that, the San Antonio Spurs are apparently attempting to push that label onto the Suns.
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According to a report in the San Antonio Express-News, the Spurs, after reviewing film from Game 2, were troubled by a play in which they believe Leandro Barbosa attempted to punch Maun Ginobili. The play occurred late in the third quarter when Barbosa, Ginobili and Shaquille O’Neal all went after a rebound. The former two ended up going to the ground and that’s when the Spurs believe Barbosa threw a punch at Ginobili’s head.
The Express-News reported that the NBA had reviewed the play and “determined that Barbosa's actions did not warrant disciplinary measures.”
When asked about the incident after Friday morning’s shootaround, Barbosa was befuddled.
“I think we all fell down, nothing else,” he said.
When asked if he threw a punch, Barbosa said, “Definitely not at all. I don’t know why they think that because that never happened with me since I started playing basketball. I’m not that kind of player.”
The Spurs, meanwhile, sidestepped questions about the report.
“The NBA does whatever they do,” coach Gregg Popovich said. “They look at everything. They watch every play. If they think something happened, they’d tell us.” When asked if the Spurs requested that the league review the play, he responded, “I don’t know.”
Ginobili was unavailable for comment.
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