Dwight Howard suspended 1 game after foul upgraded to flagrant

There's good news and bad news for Dwight Howard.

The Rockets center's seventh technical foul, which would have resulted in a one-game suspension, has been rescinded. Unfortunately, a common foul of his has been upgraded to a flagrant foul upon league review, meaning the star big man will sit out next season's opener anyway.

With 3:35 remaining in the fourth quarter of Houston's season-ending Game 5 loss at Golden State, Howard made unnecessary contact with Andre Iguodala's neck area while setting a screen. The play, which certainly looked flagrant-worthy at the time, was merely ruled a personal foul, even after video review.

The league's review, which resulted in a Flagrant-1, gives Howard four flagrant foul points for the playoffs, leading to a one-game suspension to be served at the start of the 2015-16 season.

Howard had previously been assessed a Flagrant-1 for elbowing Warriors center Andrew Bogut in a Game 4 victory - a foul that very well could have been called a Flagrant-2 - and was ejected from a second-round game against the Los Angeles Clippers for throwing the ball at a referee's feet following his sixth personal foul.

He was also fined $15,000 for making above-the-shoulders contact with Matt Barnes during that series versus L.A.

In other words, while his in-game play over the course of Houston's run to the Western Conference Finals was mostly superb, especially defensively, Howard didn't exactly do a good job of containing himself.