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The scuffle between forward George Lynch and center Jamaal Magloire of the New Orleans Hornets and forward Al Harrington of the Indiana Pacers in Saturday's game between the teams proved costly.
Each player was fined $10,000 by the NBA on Monday.
Harrington got
into a shoving match with Lynch with 9:15 remaining in the fourth quarter of
Indiana's 91-84 win. Lynch tackled Harrington near the Pacers' bench and a fight
ensued. Lynch and Harrington were ejected along with Magloire, who jumped into
the melee.
Hours after trading
Stephon Marbury in a blockbuster deal, the Phoenix Suns will have a short bench
as they take on former coach Scott Skiles and the Chicago Bulls.
Owner Jerry Colangelo has confirmed the Suns have traded their All-Star point
guard along with Penny Hardaway and Cezary Trybanski to the New York Knicks
for Antonio McDyess, Howard Eisley, Charlie Ward, Maciej Lampe, the rights to
Milos Vujanic, two future first-round draft picks and cash.
Marbury's departure leaves Phoenix without its starting point guard, as well as its leader in points and assists. Hardaway had mostly been used as the team's sixth man and was its fifth-leading scorer.
``This is a big picture kind of move, and a bold move,'' Colangelo said. ``We didn't have flexibility under the cap, and we were hamstrung by some contracts. This allows us to be a player in free agency if we choose to. This is not a telent-for-talent deal.''
The Suns have been
off to a dismal start after making the playoffs last season, owning the worst
record in the Western Conference. They have dropped two straight and five of
seven.
Phoenix is just 4-12 since losing Amare Stoudemire, last season's Rookie of
the Year, to an ankle injury on Dec. 6.
Skiles coached the Suns for a little more than three years before getting fired in February 2002. He was 116-79 and led Phoenix to the playoffs twice.
After opening a five-game road trip with a 113-105 win over the Los Angeles Clippers last Monday, the Suns dropped games to Detroit and Toronto.
Marbury scored a team-high 17 points as the Suns shot just 36.5 percent in an 83-73 loss to the Raptors.
``It was like we had two left feet on offense,'' said Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni, who is 4-9 since replacing the fired Frank Johnson.
The Bulls are also trying to break out of a recent slump. Chicago has dropped three of its last four, including an 88-77 loss to the Boston Celtics on Saturday.
Jamal Crawford scored 16 points, but he was the only Bull in double figures. Chicago shot 33.3 percent, including a 1-of-16 effort from 3-point range.
Eddy Curry had just six points, five rebounds and five fouls in 17 minutes, and Skiles said he is putting the third-year center through extra drills to improve his conditioning. Curry acknowledged the extra work is needed.
``I took it as the truth,'' Curry said, adding that his conditioning really took a hit when he missed seven games recently with a sore left knee.
STANDINGS (through Jan. 3): Suns - 7th place, 12 1/2 GB, Pacific Division. Bulls - 6th place (tied), 14 GB, Central Division.
PROBABLE STARTERS: Suns - F Shawn Marion, F Donnell Harvey, C Jake Voskuhl, G Joe Johnson, G Leandro Barbosa. Bulls - F Jerome Williams, F Kendall Gill, C Antonio Davis, G Crawford, G Kirk Hinrich.
TEAM LEADERS: Suns - Marbury, 20.8 ppg and 8.2 apg; Marion, 9.4 rpg. Bulls - Crawford, 17.4 ppg and 5.6 apg; Tyson Chandler, 10.3 rpg.
SEASON SERIES: Suns, 1-0.
LAST MEETING: Nov. 18; Suns, 95-82. At Phoenix, Stoudemire scored nine of his 21 points in the fourth quarter to help the Suns snap a three-game losing streak. Gill led the Bulls with 23 points.
ROAD/HOME RECORDS: Suns - 3-14 on the road; Bulls - 5-12 at home.
INJURIES: Suns - F Stoudemire (ankle); F Zarko Cabarkapa (wrist). Bulls - F Scottie Pippen (knee); F Chandler (back); F Chris Jefferies (back); G Jay Williams (pelvis/knee).