Dwight Howard, Quentin Richardson Suspended

Dwight will sit out one game for getting his 18th technical foul, while Q-Rich will miss two games for mushing Gerald Henderson in the face. From the Orlando Sentinel: “Howard became upset after a referee whistled him for taking more than the allotted 10 seconds to shoot a free throw — the second time in two nights and the third time this season Howard had been whistled for the rare violation. The Magic already have clinched the fourth seed in the upcoming Eastern Conference playoffs and have sewn up homecourt advantage during the playoffs’ first round. The Magic’s playoff position will not be affected by the results of Sunday’s game, and Howard will receive some rest with the postseason approaching. NBA rules state that a player receives a one-game suspension without pay when he picks up his 16th technical foul of the regular season and an additional one-game suspension without pay for every two techs after that (his 18th technical, his 20th technical, etc.). But a player’s technical-foul count reverts to zero once the regular season ends. Howard’s 18 technicals have resulted in $60,000 in fines and the loss of about $300,000 of his annual salary of approximately $16.5 million. Money collected through fines and suspensions goes to NBA charitable endeavors, a league official said. Sunday’s game will be the fourth contest this season that Howard has missed.”