Dwight Howard fined $15,000 for foul on Matt Barnes

Dwight Howard's terrible Sunday night has bled into Monday.

The Houston Rockets center was fined $15,000 by the NBA on Monday for making contact above the shoulders against Matt Barnes in the team's Game 4 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday.

Less than three minutes into the game, Howard delivered an elbow to Barnes's head - hardly a surprising target for such a shot - while working off the ball for rebounding position.

Barnes had some unkind words for Howard afterward, and the two would be at each other for most of Howard's brief night. Howard ultimately fouled out in just 18 minutes, earning two technicals in the process and nearly earning a flagrant in the third quarter while also watching his team fall into a 3-1 series hole.

The $15,000 fine isn't at all surprising, but the reasoning behind it may be. Howard was expected to come under fire for getting into it with officials twice Sunday, first pushing away an official's hand and later lightly pushing him away.

Howard now has one day to collect himself and rally the Rockets to stave off elimination. It seems unlikely, but it's going to be downright impossible if Howard isn't on the floor and loses his composure again Tuesday.