Suns notebook: Suspension worries continue

Seven suspensions or less?

With Steve Nash back from his one-game suspension and Matt Barnes completing his two-game sentence Sunday night, the Suns might have a new worry after Shaquille O’Neal’s flagrant 2 foul on Detroit’s Rodney Stuckey and ejection in the second quarter of Sunday’s win over the Pistons.

SLIDESHOW: Suns vs. Pistons

Suns find right mix vs. Pistons

With the Suns leading 48-33 and in the midst of a dominant quarter, O’Neal went up aggressively to block Stuckey’s drive to the basket with both hands. The two players collided and Stuckey landed chest-first and face-second on the floor. He remained prone on the court while officials — referee Ken Mauer called a flagrant 2 foul initially — watched video of the play and upheld the decision.

“We got together and felt — first of all, a flagrant 2 had to have a windup and follow-through (motion) and not only be unnecessary, but we feel it’s excessive,” Mauer told a pool reporter after the game. “We thought it followed all three of those. We felt he winded up. He hit him. Then he pulled him down — that’s a follow-through. We felt after reviewing it that it was more than necessary. We felt it was excessive.

“(Now) it goes to the league, and they do whatever.”

O’Neal, who was fined $35,000 for his role in the skirmish with Houston on Wednesday that resulted in suspensions to Nash and Barnes, said he was going for the ball and didn’t do anything that should result in further action by the league.

And he used everything short of props and an overhead projector to state his case.

“The laws of physics state that a body in motion stays in motion,” O’Neal theorized.

“And if you have two objects that meet in the air, the smaller object is going to fall much harder at the same rate of speed it was going.”

Professor O’Neal then tried laymen’s terms. “I’ve never been the type of player to take anyone out. I was going for the ball. (Stuckey) fell, and he added a little bit at the end.

The referees looked at how he fell, I think. Any time you come in there out of control like that and you run into a brick wall, you’re going to get that effect.”

Suns coach Terry Porter concurred. “Not to downplay what happened, the young man got hit pretty hard … (but) sometimes in those situations, the fall may look worse than the contact was.”

TAKING NAMES

After just 11 games with the Suns, Porter is 5-0 against the teams he had the most pronounced ties with in the NBA.

Porter was an assistant coach with the Pistons for the past two seasons.

Phoenix had already beaten San Antonio and Portland, where he played; Milwaukee, where he was a head coach; and Sacramento, where he was once an assistant.

But this one was special, given that Porter wasn’t even interviewed for the Detroit job when Flip Saunders was fired at the end of last season and fellow assistant coach Michael Curry was hired.

“It’s always fun to beat your former teams. They are games you look forward to and you want to do well in,” Porter said. “You want to have the bragging rights.”

BONUS SHOTS

Allen Iverson scoring an average of 27.7 points is the highest among active players and the third-highest in NBA history (behind only Michael Jordan’s 30.1 and Wilt Chamberlain’s 30.7). But Iverson’s average against the Suns dipped to 22.5 points Sunday — his lowest against any opponent — after he went 4-for-7 from the field and finished with only nine points. It was the first time he finished in single digits since March 8 of last year…

Grant Hill, who left the Pistons in 2000, hadn’t beaten his former team until Sunday. The 36-year-old had 11 points and eight rebounds in 36 minutes after playing 45 on Saturday night in Sacramento. “They’ve had my number ever since I left there, so it was good to finally get one,” he said…

Porter, who spent the last two years with Rasheed Wallace, after being told that Wallace plans to go into coaching when his successful and colorful NBA career is complete:

“I could never see him being a coach. I don’t care if it was peewee … OK, maybe peewee,” he said, laughing. “I don’t know about college or NBA. Maybe high school, but there is still one or two media hanging around, and I don’t know how he’s going to handle the referee situation. Some of those school districts might not embrace a guy who likes to use the F-bombs as much as he does.”

Amaré Stoudemire turned 26 on Sunday and celebrated with 29 points on 11-for-17 shooting. That’s a little shy of the NBA record for points scored on a player’s birthday, which is held by O’Neal. On March 6, 2000, Shaq celebrated his 28th birthday with a career-high 61 points in a Lakers win over the Clippers…

Nash tied his career high with two blocks Sunday, including one where he skied to deny Richard Hamilton a fast-break layup at the rim. “That’s what I do. What do you expect?” Nash said, smiling.

 Suns at Jazz
When: 7 p.m. Monday
Where: EnergySolutions Arena,
Salt Lake City
Radio: KTAR (620 AM)
TV: KUTP (Channel 45)
Records: Suns 8-3, Jazz 6-4
History: The Suns lead the overall series 77-67, but Utah has won 29 of the last 45 meetings and won two of three games last season.
Suns notes: The Suns will get another player back when Matt Barnes rejoins the team after completing his two-game suspension. Leandro Barbosa (death in family) remains out, and his status for Thursday’s game against the Lakers is unclear. Shaquille O’Neal will play in back-to-back games unless there is more coming from the league office after his ejection in the second quarter Sunday.
Jazz notes: After a 5-0 start, Utah limped home from a 1-4 trip to the East Coast — literally. Deron Williams (reinjuring his ankle) and Andrei Kirilenko (finger) missed Saturday’s loss in Cleveland, while Mehmet Okur remains in Turkey with his critically ill father. Kirilenko should be ready to play and Matt Harpring, who also didn’t play in Cleveland while easing back after off-season ankle surgery, should be good to go.