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Suspended players are not a common sight in the NBA Playoffs in a league that is usually player-friendly. However, we have seen some players be sanctioned for certain actions and teams having to endure big losses in the midst of an intense NBA postseason series.
In the 2020-21 NBA season, we have seen how any team in the league, including the reigning champion, struggles any time that the best players on the roster have to miss a considerable amount of games.
5 Suspensions that changed the course of the NBA Playoffs in league history
Throughout the league's history, the office of the NBA commissioner has had to intervene in certain situations regarding players and possible suspensions. Arguably the most infamous suspension in recent memory was Draymond Green's suspension before Game 5 of the 2016 NBA Finals.
In this article, we will check the five instances in which something similar happened throughout the league history.
Without further ado, let us start.
#5 Zach Randolph - 2014 NBA Playoffs
In the first round of the 2014 NBA Playoffs, the Memphis Grizzlies faced NBA MVP Kevin Durant and the OKC Thunder. The Grizzlies had reached the 2013 Western Conference Finals, precisely after beating the Thunder in the Western Semis in just five games.
Memphis took advantage of Russell Westbrook's absence, but the team still put up a dominant performance against the Thunder in 2013, winning four consecutive games after falling in Game 1.
In the 2014 postseason first-round matchup, the Thunder was at full strength but the Grizzlies won the second game at the home of the second-seeded OKC team.
Memphis took a 3-2 lead in the series and had a chance to close it out at home. However, the Thunder put up a ferocious performance in Game 6. With emotions running high, the Grizzlies' best player, Zach Randolph, punched Steven Adams and earned a one-game suspension.
Without Randolph in Game 7, Memphis fell 120-109 and could not replicate the previous year's success.
#4 Patrick Ewing and co. - 1997 NBA Playoffs
The Miami Heat and New York Knicks had a big rivalry throughout the 1990s. The tension often escalated into a full brawl between the two teams in the NBA Playoffs.
One of those instances came in Game 5 of the 1997 Eastern Conference Semis, when Miami Heat's P.J. Brown and New York's Charlie Ward got into a fight after Brown threw Ward into the stands after a free throw.
The fight ended with Brown and five Knicks players suspended, but New York clearly suffered the most as Patrick Ewing, Allan Houston, Larry Johnson and John Starks were suspended.
The Knicks had a 3-1 lead in the series, and after dropping Game 5 at Miami, the suspensions were too much to overcome and the Heat came back from 3-1 down to reach the ECF.
#3 Alonzo Mourning - 1998 NBA Playoffs
Another instance between the Miami Heat and New York Knicks occurred in the first round of the 1998 NBA Playoffs. But this time, the Heat were on the receiving end, with Alonzo Mourning suspended after a fight with Larry Johnson in Game 4.
Mourning had averages of 19 points and nine rebounds per game in the regular season, and the Miami Heat finished as the second seed of the Eastern Conference, behind Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls.
In the first round against the Knicks, Miami was one win away from winning the five-game series, but Mourning's fight with Larry Johnson in Game 4 changed the course of the entire duel.
Mourning, Johnson and Chris Mills were suspended for the deciding Game 5. With the Heat missing Mourning, New York took a 98-81 win to advance to the second round.
#2 Amar'e Stoudemire and Boris Diaw - 2007 NBA Playoffs
After consecutive losses in the Western Conference Finals in 2005 and 2006, the Phoenix Suns, guided by two-time MVP Steve Nash and Amar'e Stoudemire on the court, were looking to finally reach the NBA Finals in 2007.
But old rivals the San Antonio Spurs got in Phoenix's way in the second round. The Spurs had a 2-1 lead in the series, while Phoenix looked set to take Game 4 and tie the series. But before the game's end, San Antonio's Robert Horry needed to foul Steve Nash to stop the clock and try to play catch up in the end.
Horry's foul on Nash was clearly excessive, but it did not hurt just the two-time MVP, it also depleted the Suns in the following game. While Nash recovered easily from the shove, his teammates were heated by Horry's actions, with Raja Bell receiving a technical foul.
However, Boris Diaw and Amar'e Stoudemire left the Suns' bench, and even though they did not get into the scuffle with Horry, both were suspended for leaving the immediate vicinity of the bench.
The Suns lost Game 5 without two of their starters, and then the Spurs sealed the series at home in Game 6, and continued on their way to the NBA title.
#1 Draymond Green - 2016 NBA Finals
The 2016 NBA Finals will be remembered for many years to come, and one thing that will stand out as a big fact of the series will be Draymond Green's suspension before Game 5 of the series, when the Golden State Warriors had the chance to seal the title.
Green engaged in a scuffle with LeBron James near the end of Game 4, when the Warriors looked set to take a 3-1 lead. James had pushed Green to the floor while Green was attempting to set a screen, then James walked over the Warriors' forward, who hit The King in the groin.
After the game, with the Warriors leading 3-1, Green was assessed a Flagrant 1 for his hit on James, which accumulated a third flagrant point for Green in the system used by the league in the postseason. Under said system, the player accumulates one flagrant point for a Flagrant 1 and two for a Flagrant 2.
The action meant Green had to miss Game 5, which shifted the series. Eventually, Green came back for the sixth and seventh games, but the Cavs already had momentum over the Warriors and James guided Cleveland to the NBA title.
Also read: Should Miami Heat make an effort to retain Duncan Robinson in the 2021 NBA offseason?
