3.25.2012

Jason Smith: Blake Griffin takedown 'something I never want to do again'

New Orleans Hornets forward Jason Smith, suspended Friday for two games by the NBA for his fast-break takedown of Clippers forward Blake Griffin, again apologized for the incident and said he agreed with the NBA's decision.

"It's something I never want to do again," Smith told The Times-Picayune on Saturday. "I think I got caught up in the heat of the moment. It was an emotional game, a very physical game, There's still no excuse for what I did. I want to make it blatant that I apologized to Blake. He's an admirable player … a well-liked player."

Griffin did not leave the game but lay on the court in pain for about a minute after the fourth-quarter collision while other players gathered in a tense moment behind the basket. Smith was called for a flagrant 2 foul and ejected from the Hornets' win.

"I didn't want to give up on the game. When you see a person in transition like that, it's hard to defend a person like that," Smith said. "I thought it was a good suspension. There's no way to determine how many games you get suspended for certain actions. I thought it was fair. You've got to take what you get and definitely have to own up to it and just learn from it."

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