Rod Thorn, the NBA’s dean of discipline, has a tough decision to make.
Should Dwight Howard’s elbowing foul against Andrew Bogut from Game 4 of the Western Conference finals be upgraded to a flagrant-2, which would force Howard to miss Game 5.
The precedent is there, whether it was Al Horford getting ejected from Game 3 of the Atlanta-Cleveland series or J.R. Smith getting suspended two games for elbowing Jae Crowder of Boston during the first round.
Elbows to the head are a serious matter …. but so, too, is keeping the NBA playoffs interesting … and keeping them on the air for as many days as possible before everything shuts down for a week prior to the start of the NBA Finals. All in all, this year’s playoffs have not been great.
Let’s face it … the Rockets probably have no shot whatsoever in Game 5 if Howard is suspended.
And let’s face this, too: The NBA has a vested interest in having a competitive Game 5 in Oakland, whether or not the Rockets can extend it to a Game 6.
So what do I expect Thorn to do? And how will that news be, ahem, announced?
The answers come in this podcast with Newy Scruggs on NBCSports Radio early Tuesday morning.
Chris Sheridan is publisher and editor-in-chief of SheridanHoops.com. Follow him on Twitter.