Updated: May 3, 2006, 6:02 PM ET
Bell suspended one game for takedown of Bryant
ESPN.com news services
The
Phoenix Suns forced a Game 6 with the Lakers, but
Raja Bell won't be on the court for them in Los Angeles on Thursday.
Bell was suspended for throwing
Kobe Bryant to the floor in Tuesday night's game. He was hit with his second technical foul with 7:33 left in the game for the takedown and was ejected.
The Arizona Republic reported that Suns executive Jerry Colangelo called Stu Jackson as soon as the game ended to get a dialogue started with the NBA's top disciplinarian.
"We don't believe this was an isolated incident or play," Colangelo told the newspaper. "There were a number of things that led up to that flagrant foul. Things that have happened the whole series. A lot of elbows. It's been a very physical matchup between Raja and Kobe. I think Raja was pretty explicit. He lost his head. He overreacted, but a lot of things led to it."
Bell and Bryant also had been called for a double-technical in the second quarter.
"It's been a pretty physical series, and at that point in time I had caught another elbow in the jaw and I lost my head and overreacted to it," Bell said. "It could have cost my team and for that I'm sorry."
After Bell threw Bryant down, he pointed to the Lakers' bench and yelled, "That's your foul."
"It's a physical game," Bryant said. "I'm not trying to go out there and elbow somebody, that's not the way I play. If you get elbowed, you still have to keep your cool. I get elbowed all the time."
Steve Nash said Bell's foul was no worse than some the Lakers committed earlier in the series, so he didn't believe a suspension was warranted.
"They're going to single one out because it's on Kobe? To me that's a shame," Nash said.
"There were a couple of elbows thrown," The Suns'
Boris Diaw said. "I saw Raja on the floor twice before he got ejected. Raja got hit many times. It probably was frustration."