In the Paint

Houston Rockets coach Rick Adelman criticized the NBA yesterday for setting up an "utterly ridiculous" schedule for his team that includes four back-to-back games over the next two weeks.

The Rockets face Detroit at home tonight, then must fly to Denver to play the Nuggets tomorrow. They visit Dallas on Friday and return home to face Oklahoma City on Saturday - then have to play two games on consecutive nights twice more during Christmas week.

"We have a horrendous stretch here," Adelman said. "I don't know if the league really understands that they gave us four straight back-to-backs."

"It's utterly ridiculous," Adelman said. "But that's the schedule we have, it's just the way it is and we're just going to have to respond to it.

"Every team should have a chance where they're home a little bit," he said. "We have no chance."

Rockets forward Trevor Ariza said he was suspended for one game after he was ejected from a game in Toronto for throwing a forearm at Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan.

Ariza said he would sit out tonight's game. NBA spokesman Tim Frank would not immediately confirm the suspension, saying that "no decision has been made."

The Phoenix Suns recalled rookie forward Taylor Griffin (the brother of the Clippers' Blake Griffin) from the Iowa Energy of the NBA Development League.. . . Former New Orleans coach Byron Scott is rejoining ESPN as an NBA analyst.

- Associated Press