It was obvious this was coming.
Boston’s Kelly Olynyk has played hard, set illegal screens, and has even taken some cheap shots on Kelly Oubre and other Wizards all series long, but if you get up and sprint halfway across the court to shove a guy to the ground, you are going to get suspended in the NBA. That’s not really up for debate. And that’s what Oubre did in the second quarter of Game 3.
So the suspension is happening. Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical at Yahoo Sports broke the news.
The NBA is suspending Washington's Kelly Oubre for Game 4 vs. Boston for altercation with Kelly Olynyk, league sources tell @TheVertical.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 6, 2017
The league has since confirmed it, saying the suspension was for “making forceful and unwarranted contact with Boston Celtics center Kelly Olynyk.” There was no fine for Olynyk for the screen he set that was the final straw for Oubre.
This is a blow to the Wizards bench, which has already been thin and inconsistent this series. Oubre gave the Wizards a long defender who could switch onto Isaiah Thomas and give the little guard trouble (as much as anyone is able to once he gets going). Expect more Tomas Satoransky and/or Sheldon McClellan off the bench, but the leash will be short for them and coach Scott Brooks may be forced to lean more heavily on his starters.
This has been a physical, chippy series between Boston and Washington teams that simply do not like each other — and that is good. Some real bad blood makes the playoffs far more entertaining to watch, and the last game had eight technicals and three ejections. That said, players cannot lose their cool — Oubre lost his head for a second and he will hurt his team in Game 4 by his absence. Players try to get under each other’s skin, Oubre lost when he let Olynyk in.