The Warriors have clinched home court advantage throughout the post-season after beating the Mavericks in Dallas last night. The Warriors had another impressive road performance, but that was not the story everybody was talking about after the game.
Shaun Livingston received a technical foul after he inadvertently hit Dirk Nowitzki in the groin. According to Marc Stein of ESPN, Livingston has been suspended for one game by the NBA:
NBA just announced Warriors G @ShaunLivingston suspended for tonight’s game in San Antonio after Dirk Nowitzki incident in Dallas last night
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) April 5, 2015
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was noticeably upset after the game and confronted Steve Kerr. Livingston called the play an accident and it’s hard not to believe a player like Livingston who has never had a reputation of being a dirty player.
The NBA didn’t see it that way and suspended Livingston for tonight’s game against the Spurs. With home court locked up, losing Livingston for a game will not hurt much. However, one can only wonder if the NBA acted because Mark Cuban was very vocal about it being a dirty play.
I don’t care what Livingston’s reputation is. If you watch the video, his hand goes between Nowitski’s legs and appears to grab crotch. Cuban is correct; that’s not a standard defensive play. The NBA was right to punish that. There’s physical defense, and then there’s whatever is across the line; this crosses a line for most guys, I would think. If someone tries to do that to Steph in the playoffs, you can bet he won’t be the only one yelping for a strong punishment.