Wright Suspended for Dallas Incident

Center Lorenzen Wright was suspended for one game without pay and fined $5,000 by the NBA for flagrantly elbowing Dallas Maverick center Shawn Bradley in Monday night’s victory at Dallas.

Wright, who missed Tuesday’s loss at Houston, was ejected in the third quarter of the Dallas game. The ejection also carries an automatic $1,000 fine.

Wright, who wasn’t notified until 3 1/2 hours before the game, said he was stunned by the disciplinary action taken by Rod Thorn, NBA senior vice president.

“It surprises me a lot,” Wright said. “I can’t believe it. When you do things like that you’ve got to pay the consequences. I can’t cry over spilled milk.”

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Forward Lamond Murray, who had scored only 13 points in his last two games, made six of 10 shots and had 18 points and nine rebounds in 24 minutes as a reserve against the Rockets.

“I actually found out tonight he had teeth, I saw him smile a couple of times,” Fitch said.

With the Clippers trailing by seven points, Murray made two of three free throws after he was fouled by Mario Ellie while attempting a three-point shot with 1:12 remaining.

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Houston Rocket forward Charles Barkley doesn’t think the Clippers will win their first-round series against the Utah Jazz, who have the second best record in the NBA.

“Can they beat Utah?,” Barkley said. “I don’t think they can. Utah is on a mission. But I think they’re dangerous because they play so hard. Utah is going to be tough for them.”