Milwaukee Bucks guard O.J. Mayo was suspended by the NBA for one game on Saturday after punching New Orleans Pelicans center Greg Steisma in the throat during their game on Friday night.
The incident happened during the 1:52 mark of the first quarter of the Bucks' 112-104 loss to the Pelicans when Mayo got entangled with Steisma as he attempted to get around a pick given by the big man. Mayo was given a flagrant foul 2 and ejected from the game.
After the game, Mayo told The Associated Press via Yahoo! Sports: ''I reacted the wrong way and handled it for sure the wrong way. I want to apologize to the Bucks fan base, the city of Milwaukee and obviously New Orleans and the (fans) who came out and watched the game. It's definitely the wrong way to conduct yourself. I've got to be better and I will.''
Milwaukee Bucks head coach Larry Drew, meanwhile, said regarding Mayo's actions: "Certainly we don't want to respond the way O.J. did. We want to be a little more under control."
The suspension was the second consecutive for the Bucks, the team with the worst record in the league. Earlier, forward Ersan Ilyasova missed the Bucks-Pelicans game after he punched Reggie Evans of Sacramento on Wednesday night .
"Two unfortunate suspensions," Drew added. "If you are around this thing long enough, you will experience things that just seem to happen in the NBA. Emotions get high, and both incidents were two isolated incidents. It's just from being competitive, and in Ersan Ilyasova's case, playing against a physical guy."
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