Horry, 2 Suns suspended

The NBA announced yesterday the Spurs' Robert Horry was suspended two games for knocking Phoenix's Steve Nash into the scorer's table with 18 seconds remaining in the Suns' 104-98 playoff victory at San Antonio Monday night.

Phoenix center Amare Stoudemire and teammate Boris Diaw were suspended one game for leaving the bench after Horry's flagrant foul on Nash in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinal.

Phoenix's victory evened the series at 2-2. All three players will miss tonight's Game 5 in Phoenix of what has been an intense showdown. Horry also will miss Friday night's Game 6 in San Antonio.

Horry was suspended for flagrantly fouling Nash and striking Raja Bell about the shoulders with a forearm, NBA executive vice president Stu Jackson said in a statement. Stoudemire and Diaw were suspended for leaving "the immediate vicinity of their bench" during the altercation.

During a conference call, Jackson said, "This is a very unfortunate circumstance. No one here at the league office wants to suspend players any game, much less a pivotal game in the second round of a playoff series. But the rule, however, is the rule, and we intend to apply it consistently."

"I feel it's terribly wrong," Suns owner Robert Sarver said. "I feel we've been unjustly penalized for the fact that we played a clean, hard game. I feel if any team should have been penalized in this series, it should be the Spurs and it shouldn't be us. I feel like I've just been punched in the gut."

As expected, Dirk Nowitzki yesterday got some consolation for his and his team's postseason flop -- a Most Valuable Player trophy.

The Dallas Mavericks forward ended the two-year MVP reign of his good friend, the Phoenix Suns' Steve Nash, after a regular season in which the 7-footer led his team to 67 wins.

"It's still a little hard for me to be happy because of the way this season ended," Nowitzki said. "But this is an award for the regular season. That's how I've got to look at it and be proud."

Nowitzki received 1,138 points, and 83 of the 129 first-place votes. Nash followed with 1,013 points and 44 first-place votes, and Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers got the remaining two first-place votes. San Antonio's Tim Duncan was fourth and Cleveland's LeBron James fifth.

Votes were turned in before the playoffs, a good thing for Nowitzki considering how little he did to prevent the Mavs from being bounced in the first round by eighth-seeded Golden State.

Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade had surgery on his left shoulder and left knee, and the MVP of last season's Finals might need the remainder of the offseason to fully recover. Wade averaged 27.4 points last season, missing 31 games with a variety of injuries -- primarily a dislocated left shoulder suffered in February . . . Lakers forward Lamar Odom had shoulder surgery and is expected to be ready for training camp in October. He underwent arthroscopic surgery for a torn labrum in his left shoulder . . . Former NBA coach Rick Adelman has talked to the Rockets about the coaching job currently held by Jeff Van Gundy, according reports on KRIV-TV and in the Houston Chronicle . . . Indiana Pacers assistant coach Johnny Davis interviewed for the team's vacant head coaching position.

Marvin Barnes was arrested early yesterday and charged with cocaine possession, the latest legal problem for the former Providence College star and one-time Celtic who has been battling drug addiction for years. Police said they found a bag of cocaine inside an SUV the 54-year-old Barnes was driving. Barnes, nicknamed "Bad News" for his off-court problems, was arrested along a highway shoulder in Johnston, R.I., said a state police spokesman.

Milwaukee Bucks forward Ruben Patterson was accused of failing to register as a convicted sex offender in Indian Hill, Ohio. A warrant was issued after authorities filed the complaint in Hamilton County Municipal Court. Failing to register is a misdemeanor. In 2001, when Patterson played for the Portland Trail Blazers, he pleaded guilty in Washington state to an attempted rape charge.