Isaiah Thomas not suspended for hitting Dennis Schroder in head
— -- BOSTON -- Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas will not be suspended by the NBA for Friday's incident with Atlanta's Dennis Schroder, and instead has been assessed a flagrant-1 foul heading into Game 4 of the Eastern Conference first-round series against the Hawks.
With 1:27 left in the first quarter of Boston's chippy 111-103 victory Friday night, Thomas and Schroder were hit with double technical fouls after jawing at each other. As the two were heading downcourt before the verbal exchange, Thomas could be seen throwing his left hand at Schroder's face.
"I still feel disrespected (about) what he did," Schroder said Saturday. "I (had) just scored a basket and tried to go back on defense and he smacked me. It had nothing to do with basketball."
Schroder still thinks that if the rules and points of emphasis the Hawks were told entering the playoffs are followed, Thomas should have been suspended.
"We talked with the referees before the playoffs, and what they told us is what he did to me yesterday is a suspension," Schroder said. "I can't control it. ... It is on the (league memo), and Coach (Mike Budenholzer) told us that we can't do this, we can't do that, it is going to be a suspension."
Thomas, who scored 42 points to help the Celtics cut the Hawks' lead in the series to 2-1, said after the game that he wasn't worried about a potential suspension or fine.
"I'm not," Thomas said. "Because I didn't mean to hit his head. He got mad. He was talking. It's playoff basketball. That's what it's about. I'm not going to back down from anybody, and he knows that."
Thomas hit 12 of 24 shots, including 5 of 12 from beyond the 3-point line, and made 13 of 15 free throws. Schroder, who came in as a game-time decision with a sore ankle, scored 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting.
Budenholzer said the Hawks just need "to move on," even if he felt the league's points of emphasis entering this postseason were more "black and white" this year.
"It is required that we make our players aware of points of emphasis in the playoffs," Budenholzer said. "I thought this year, the information felt even more clear and more demonstrative. We have all been in the league for a long time. It may have been the exact same memo as it has been for 20 years, but this year it seemed a little more, I don't know, just black and white and we wanted to make sure everybody was aware."
Celtics guard Marcus Smart was fined $5,000 for a flopping violation in the second half of Game 3.
Game 4 is Sunday night in Boston.
ESPN's Ohm Youngmisuk contributed to this report.
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