As J.J. Barea predicted last night that it would, that flagrant foul type 2 he received for throwing himself into Miami's Ray Allen got downgraded to a flagrant foul type 1 today by the NBA.
He got an automatic ejection when the officials reviewed what he called a "little bump" on Allen after Allen drove on him, extended an arm shiver and Barea staggered backward, as he has been known to do, without a foul called.
"The NBA did a good job looking at it, making sure," Barea said after practice Tuesday morning. "It wasn' t that bad."
He missed the game's final eight minutes after being ejected.
In that time, the Heat turned a six-point lead into a 15-point bulge, thanks in part to two free throws for Barea's flagrant foul and another free throw after Rick Adelman got a technical for protesting the officials' decision.
Barea left after a 1-for-11 shooting night.
"I wasn't that mad," he joked. "The way I was shooting it, I was like, `Get me out of here.' They did me a favor."
Said Adelman: "I expected it. What (Golden State's) Jarrett Jack did in a game a week ago was far worse than that. I expected that to happen. It doesn't change the course of the game last night, which is an unfortunate thing. At least they did change it."
