During the Lakers’ loss to the Suns on Wednesday night, things got, no pun intended, heated. A hard foul from Alex Len on Nick Young late in the second quarter resulted in Young getting back up and shoving back, eventually leaving to ejections for Young and Len.
There’s a high possibility that Young is suspended for Friday’s game in Boston against the Celtics for what could be perceived as a closed-fist punch directed and Goran Dragic, but the Lakers are apparently fearing another penalty too according to Mike Bresnahan of the LA Times:
Forget Nick Young for a sec, Lakers also privately concerned Jordan Hill will be suspended one game for leaving the bench during skirmish.
— Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) January 16, 2014
The standard NBA rule is that bench players that leave the bench area during an altercation automatically receive a suspension. If that’s the case and Hill and Young are both lost for Friday, the team is looking at having just seven available players.
Seven.
The team would likely bring up a D-League player or try to find someone to sign to a 10-day contract, but just the fact that it’s gotten this dire is comical.
We won’t know the NBA’s decision until Thursday (or possibly early Friday), but with Young’s expected suspension, Hill’s still to be determined, and a whole bunch of disagreements between the players, it’s going to be an interesting flight to Beantown for the Lakers.
