Dwight Howard suspended against Heat, Bickerstaff fined $10K

Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard will serve a one-game suspension without pay Tuesday against the Miami Heat, the NBA confirmed.

The action stems from an incident in which Howard made contact with an official during Saturday's loss to the Washington Wizards. He was ejected after swatting referee Mitchell Ervin's arm away following a confrontation with Wiz big man Nene.

Rockets interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff has also been fined $10,000 for remarks he made afterward. Bickerstaff tore into officials' treatment of Howard.

"It's not fair the way the referees ref Dwight," he told ESPN's Calvin Watkins on Saturday. "You can go back and look at clip after clip after clip. They initiate contact with him, they grab him, they hold him. Dwight gets punished more than anybody in the league."

The news comes as the Rockets reportedly attempt to rescind four of Howard's league-high 12 technical fouls this season. A league-issued one-game suspension automatically kicks in after 16.

The 12-year veteran missed three games recently due to an ankle issue. With his next game played, he'll match his total for last season, when he was sidelined for a long stretch due to a knee injury.