OAKLAND, Calif. -- There were no fines or suspensions for the Dallas Mavericks from the Thursday dust-up in Los Angeles, but they did get some news.
The NBA office Friday downgraded Jason Terry's flagrant foul on Steve Blake to Penalty One from Penalty Two.
But Dirk Nowitzki's fourth-quarter foul on Kobe Bryant was upgraded to a flagrant foul, Penalty One. If a player gets six penalty points, he is suspended for a game; this was Nowitzki's second point.
The ejections after the fourth-quarter scuffle stood, which one of those tossed, Brendan Haywood, found surprising.
"All I did was try to get in between people and put my hands up," he said. "I didn't do anything."
The Lakers insisted they were not going to let the Mavericks get away with pushing one of their players.
"They're not going to come into our house and throw us around," said Matt Barnes, who was ejected along with Blake, Terry and Haywood. LA backup Shannon Brown was ejected later in the game.
On Friday, Barnes was suspended one game without pay for escalating the incident, the NBA announced. He served his suspension Friday night when the Lakers visited Utah.
"(Terry) pushed me," Blake said. "I don't like being pushed."
Said Terry: "It was a hard foul. It's been a long week for me. The emotions got the best of me, and I've already apologized to the team. You can't let that happen in big games. But the game was getting out of hand. So, things happen."
Terry attended the funeral of his aunt Monday in Seattle.
Lakers coach Phil Jackson was amused by the episode.
"There was no fight," he said. "They were two cock-roosters bumping chests. Just some pushing and shoving going on."
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