Stewart slapped with 1-game ban

NEW YORK (AFP) — Detroit Pistons forward Isaiah Stewart was suspended one game without pay by the National Basketball Association (NBA) on Friday for repeated flagrant fouls this season, the league announced.

The 23-year-old American, in his fifth NBA campaign, will miss Detroit’s home game on Friday against Dallas as a result of the suspension.

NBA rules mandate a one-game ban for players when they reach five flagrant foul “points” in a season.

Stewart entered Wednesday’s game at Indiana with four such points and received a flagrant foul 2 and was ejected with 8:45 remaining in the second quarter of Detroit’s 133-119 loss to the Pacers.

Stewart delivered a right forearm to the chest of Indiana center Thomas Bryant, knocking him to the floor as he watched the ball on a rebound.

“Just a lot of talk, a lot of words,” Stewart said of the incident.

“I have to be better at not allowing those words to affect the team.”

Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff defended Stewart’s actions.

“There are certain things that are said to you that are no longer about basketball,” he said. “When it crosses that line, like it did tonight, you should be able to stand up for yourself.”

Stewart, who would face bans of one or two games for any future flagrant fouls this season, was also fined $50,000 for what the NBA called “inappropriate and objectionable gestures following his ejection.”