HOUSTON — The NBA on Friday suspended Houston Rockets guard Ty Lawson for two games without pay as the result of a drunken-driving case in Colorado.
Lawson will miss home games Saturday against the Los Angeles Clippers and Monday against the Charlotte Hornets.
The former Nuggets guard was charged with drunken driving, speeding and other offenses in January but pleaded guilty to driving while ability impaired and a lane violation. He faces up to 180 days in jail when he is sentenced Jan. 14.
Lawson also was arrested for drunken driving in Los Angeles in July, about the time he was traded to the Rockets.
A Denver judge ordered Lawson to spend 30 days in an alcohol-rehab facility after that arrest.
In 26 games this season, Lawson is averaging 5.9 points and 4.2 assists over 25.2 minutes.
Lawson’s lack of production has the Rockets working with the point guard’s representatives in an effort to trade him, according to multiple reports Friday.
Eleven games into this season, Lawson lost his starting point guard job with Houston to Patrick Beverly.
These troubles for the 28-year-old Lawson, the No. 18 overall pick in the 2009 draft, come less than two years after the completion of the best season of his career.
Lawson averaged a career-best 17.6 points per game to go along with 8.8 assists during the 2013-14 season, but his legal troubles and a contentious relationship with then-Nuggets coach Brian Shaw factored into a sharp decline soon after.
