NEW YORK, United States, May 3 – Houston Rockets center Nene was fined $15,000 Wednesday by the NBA for grabbing San Antonio Spurs center Dewayne Dedmon by the neck in a playoff victory.
The 34-year-old Brazilian, in his 15th NBA campaign, was issued a technical foul and ejected for the incident with Dedmon at the end of the third quarter in Houston’s 126-99 rout of the Spurs on Monday.
Nene, who grabbed Dedmon by the throat, was punished for “pushing” Dedmon “above the shoulders” according to an NBA statement.
Dedmon confronted Houston star James Harden after a play to close the quarter. Nene was whistled for a flagrant foul while Dedmon and Harden each received technical fouls. Dedmon was issued a second technical foul and ejected in the fourth quarter.
The victory at San Antonio gave the Rockets a 1-0 edge in their best-of-seven Western Conference second-round playoff series. The winner will face either Utah or the Golden State Warriors for a berth in next month’s NBA Finals.