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ASSOCIATED PRESS
Detroit Pistons center Greg Monroe (10) fouls Los Angeles Lakers forward Pau Gasol, left, of Spain, as Lakers forward Metta World Peace fouls Pistons guard Brandon Knight (7) during the first quarter of an NBA basketball game at the Palace of Auburn Hills, Mich., Sunday, Feb. 3, 2013. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
NEW YORK >> Forward Metta World Peace has been suspended for one game because he hit Detroit’s Brandon Knight in the face, and the Los Angeles Lakers also will be without Dwight Howard again when they face the Brooklyn Nets today.
World Peace grabbed Knight around the neck and struck him in the jaw with the knuckles of his mostly open hand on Sunday with 1:43 left in the first half of the Lakers’ 98-97 win over the Pistons.
Howard missed that game with a sore right shoulder that remains painful. He says he will miss his third straight game.
Pau Gasol will start at center in Howard’s place, and the Lakers will have to move someone into World Peace’s starting forward spot.
The former Ron Artest was also suspended seven games in April after an elbow to the head of Oklahoma City’s James Harden. He is notorious for his 86-game suspension in 2004 for his role in the brawl with Pistons fans in Detroit.
World Peace also served a seven-game suspension in 2007 for his no-contest plea on a domestic violence charge.
