NEW YORK — Indiana Pacers guard Bennedict Mathurin was suspended for one game without pay by the NBA on Wednesday night for inappropriate contact and verbal abuse of a game official.
Mathurin was penalized for his actions with 3:58 left in the Pacers’ 127-117 home loss to Cleveland on Tuesday night.
“It was the moment,” Mathurin said after the game of his actions toward official Natalie Sago. “The game is so intense, especially myself — being this competitive, I just want to win. It was an unfortunate situation, but I was able to learn from it.”
Mathurin said after the game that he apologized to Sago, according the Indianapolis Star.
Mathurin will sit out Indiana’s game in Detroit on Thursday night. The suspension will cost him $41,642.
He’s averaging 16.5 points in 41 games this season.
Information from ESPN’s Bobby Marks and The Associated Press was used in this report.