The problem is that after Alston and Barnes were going at it, Tmac came in to break it up. But Steve Nash came charging in at Alston and Tmac pushed Nash away from Alston. Shaq pushed Tmac out of the way because he saw Tmac push Nash. Nash escalated the whole thing. Maybe Shaq pushing Mcgrady was a blessing in disguise, because Tmac could have thrown a punch if Shaq hadn't pushed him. Shaq basically cleared everyone by plowing the row.
If you look at it at the front floor angle you can see Nash slip on Rafer and Yaos feet. That’s way T-Macs shove looks so bad, Nash was already on his way down.
I don't know the # of games...but all these guys will be suspended for some duration IMO: Barnes (3 infractions) O'Neill (3 infractions) Nash (2 infractions) Alston (2 infractions) Tmac (1 infraction)
Maybe someone already posted this, but did Steve Nash say something awfully bad to Rafer? From looking at the video, Skip clearly slapped Nash twice in the face. It just seems odd that Skip would do this to Nash, as I know he has nothing but respect for him, but apparently not. Direct quote from one of the NBA Street Ankle Breakers DVD, "My good Canadian buddy Nash has probably one of the best handles in the NBA" - Rafer Alston
My theory was that the ref saw McGrady got a lot of space because Barnes was slowed by having to push Alston out of the way, so he swallowed the whistle and let McGrady shoot it.
