NBA: Howard hit with one-game ban to open next season

Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard was suspended for one game by the NBA on Friday for accumulated flagrant fouls in the playoffs, but he won't serve the ban until next season. A review by the league office upgraded a foul he committed on Golden State guard Andre Iguodala in a loss Wednesday from a common foul to a flagrant foul, the move involving unnecessary contact with his forearm to the neck of his rival with 3:35 to play in the fourth quarter of a 104-90 defeat that ousted the Rockets from the NBA playoffs. The victory gave the Warriors a four games to one triumph in the best-of-seven Western Conference final and sent Golden State into the NBA Finals against Cleveland that open Thursday at Oakland, California. Howard will serve his suspension in the first game of the 2015-16 NBA regular season for which he is physically able to play. The league office also rescinded technical fouls issued to Howard and Golden State standout Andrew Bogut of Australia in the same game.