Isaiah Thomas’ controversial two-game suspension means he will miss Washington’s matchup with the New York Knicks on Monday.
Isaiah Thomas is front and center in the NBA right now. The Washington Wizards point guard walked into the stands to confront a fan on Friday. The league handed down a two-game suspension to Thomas.
Isaiah Thomas goes into the Philadelphia stands to confront a fan. He was ejected for this.
(Via @TheAthletic) pic.twitter.com/Z04Q0gWdXS
— Samuel J. Robinson (@samueljrob) December 22, 2019
"A fan has both of his middle fingers up, and said 'F— you, b—-' three times. … I go in the stands to confront him. … His response was, 'I'm sorry. I just wanted a Frosty.'"
Isaiah Thomas explained why he went into the stands to confront a Sixers fan. pic.twitter.com/ZpYrmEHZKz
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) December 22, 2019
Obviously, things could go much, much worse when players go into the crowd. Following the Malice at the Palace, the league has always taken these types of things seriously and the two-game suspension is a reflection of that.
The New York Knicks are going to be facing a shorthanded Wizards team on Monday. Washington’s injury report is almost long enough to be a novel. In addition to Thomas, Davis Bertans, Thomas Bryant, Rui Hachimura, Jordan McRae, C.J. Miles, Moritz Wagner, and John Wall are all listed as out.
That’s a lot of names but there could be one that matters much more—Bradley Beal. The All-Star guard’s shooting percentages are down slightly this year, but he is doing everything he can to keep the Wizards afloat in the Eastern Conference.
He’s averaging 28.2 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 7.0 assists per game. Beal is playing more minutes per game this season (37.1) than he did when he led the league in that category last year (36.9). New York has had trouble defending the three-point line and Beal takes 8.1 attempts per game from beyond the arc. That could be a recipe for disaster.
The Knicks will host the Wizards at Madison Square Garden on Monday night (7 p.m. ET).