Utah Jazz: No discipline for John Lucas' shoving match

Memphis • Jazz point guard John Lucas III won't be disciplined for his involvement in a brief post-game shoving match Monday night with Rockets guard Francisco Garcia.

A spokesman for the NBA confirmed there would be no action taken by the league and Jazz coach Ty Corbin said Lucas won't face any internal discipline either.

"No," Corbin said Wednesday morning. "We talked about it. We'll move on."

As the Rockets tried to dribble out the final seconds of a 38-point blowout win, Lucas stole the ball and dribbled toward the Jazz bench. Garcia took exception and elbowed the Jazz man in the ribs. Lucas then shoved Garcia and raised up his fists before both men were restrained.

After the game, Lucas said he had been frustrated by a season of losing but called his decision to steal the ball "messed up." The journeyman point guard Later apologized on Twitter for his role in the incident.

"I picked a great game to have my mom in the crowd. Utah, I apologize. I just hate losing, I always will," he wrote.

Homecoming

Jazz guard Ian Clark grew up in the Memphis area and attended high school at nearby Germantown. Clark was kept inactive for the Jazz's first trip to the FedExForum but was in uniform Wednesday in front of his friends and family.

Meanwhile, Clark's uncle, local recording artist John Gary Williams, sang the anthem before the game.

Big promise

Memphis coach Dave Joerger sees the Jazz struggling now but believes they have the foundation for future success.

"They've got good players that are gonna be good," he said. "They got a kid sitting over there that I really like, Rudy Gobert, who's really, really long. I think he's very athletic and he's got a good motor. And I think as time goes on, he's going to learn to play the NBA game and come in and learn from guys like Derrick and Enes, who to me appear like they work very hard because they keep getting better. It doesn't just happen. You don't just trip out there and keep getting better and better."

afalk@sltrib.com

Twitter: @tribjazz