Kenyon Martin smacked Boris Diaw in the face Tuesday, and the NBA smacked Martin and the Nuggets on Thursday.
What was ruled a technical foul in Tuesday’s Nuggets-Suns game was changed by the league to a flagrant foul, so Martin is suspended for Saturday’s game against Sacramento because he exceeded the flagrant-foul points total for the season.
This is the second time this season that the league reviewed a Martin play later in the week and then determined it was a flagrant foul. In December, Martin accidentally hit New Orleans’ Melvin Ely with an elbow to the eye, and Denver found out the day of its game at San Antonio that Martin would be suspended.
This latest suspension happened in the heat of Denver’s playoff race. With seven games left, the Nuggets are currently in the eighth playoff spot, a game ahead of the Warriors. The Nuggets play Thursday at Golden State.
“We can’t lose our focus that every game has to be a win,” Denver coach George Karl said.
The loss of Martin against Sacramento hurts, because Martin was set to guard Ron Artest, arguably the Kings’ best player. And in the past three games, Martin has averaged 22.3 points and 7.6 rebounds.
Martin can appeal to get his pay for the suspended game, but the league will not allow a player in this situation to appeal the actual suspension.
The incident occurred with 3:52 left in the second quarter of Denver’s 126-120 win Tuesday. The Nuggets have won seven of their last 10 games, with much of the success due to Martin’s play.
Benjamin Hochman: 303-954-1294 or bhochman@denverpost.com
