NBA suspends Quincy Acy one game for fouling John Wall, who is fined

New York Knicks forward Quincy Acy has been suspended one game without pay by the NBA for his flagrant foul against John Wall in a Christmas Day game.

The league said Friday that Wall was fined $15,000 for escalating the confrontation by pushing Acy. The NBA said that Acy’s flagrant foul 2 initiated the altercation in Washington’s 102-91 victory Thursday.

Wall was dribbling up the court when Acy knocked him down with a forearm shove with 5:31 left in the fourth quarter. Wall got up and pushed Acy, who swung his arm and appeared to hit Wall behind the neck. Acy was ejected and Wall was given a techincal.

Acy will miss the Knicks’ game at Sacramento on Saturday. New York acquired the forward from the Kings last summer.

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Free-agent power forward Josh Smith, released by the Detroit Pistons this week, officially joined the Rockets on Friday in a move aimed at strengthening Houston’s frontcourt.

The signing was announced by General Manager Daryl Morey and reunites the 6-foot-9 forward with AAU teammate and longtime friend Dwight Howard, who is in his second season in Houston.

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Cavaliers center Anderson Varejao had surgery to repair a torn left Achilles’ tendon, an injury that ended his season and altered Cleveland’s title hopes.

The Cavaliers said Varejao’s operation was performed Friday at the Cleveland Clinic by Dr. Brian Donley, who was assisted by Dr. Richard Parker, the team’s physician. There is no timetable for his return. Varejao injured himself Tuesday night in a win over Minnesota as he was battling for a rebound.

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Former Harlem Globetrotter Robert “Showboat” Hall, who spent nearly three decades with the team before retiring in 1974, has died in his hometown of Detroit. The Globetrotters said Hall died Wednesday. A cause of death and his age were not immediately available.