Hilton Armstrong returns after serving one-game suspension

Hilton Armstrong had a hard time watching replays of the shove that led to his one-game suspension this week. The sight of Miami reserve center Joel Anthony's arms and legs flailing in different directions before he landed hard on his backside "was real scary," Armstrong said on Friday. "It put chills in me. I didn't mean for that to happen at all."
He knew that a suspension was coming the moment he was ejected from the Wizards' 105-94 loss to the Heat on Monday. But he was still surprised that he was in that position, since he never had a reputation for making dirty plays or being some sort of enforcer. "It caught me off guard," he said. "Kind of shocked me, because I never thought, me of all people, would have to go through something like that. I know I'm not that type of guy or anything."

Armstrong said that while in the moment he wasn't worried about the incident escalating after Juwan Howard pushed him to the floor. He just wanted to help Anthony back on his feet. "I saw the way he fell, so in my mind, I hope he's okay. I tried to go get him to see if he was alright and I got pushed," Armstrong said. "Howard pushed me, I didn't even care at all. You could see how I reacted. I just slid right up. I could care less about him. Howard, I'm not worried about at all."