New York ? Knicks forward Zach Randolph was suspended one game without pay by the NBA on Friday for throwing his headband at a referee.

Randolph was called for a foul by Tony Brothers with 1:47 remaining in the third quarter of the Knicks’ 107-97 loss to Sacramento on Wednesday. Randolph took off his headband and threw it in the direction of Brothers. It landed near his feet.

Though Brothers didn’t appear to notice at first, the NBA said in releasing the penalty that the headband hit the official.

Randolph missed the Knicks’ game at San Antonio on Friday.

“We just prepared just in case it happened. And you know it happened, and so we’re prepared for it,” Knicks coach Isiah Thomas said before the game. “I know he threw the headband, and if the NBA wanted to suspend him that’s within their right and we have no objections. We don’t disagree, we move forward.”

Pushed on whether he thought the punishment was harsh, Thomas paused, then said simply, “No.”

Thomas said former Spurs player Malik Rose would start in Randolph’s place.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said that Thomas’ decision to start Rose probably had something to do with the veteran’s history in San Antonio.

“The same way you bring a guy back into town against his old team and sometimes those guys have great nights,” Popovich said. “So, that is obviously why he’s doing it because he really hasn’t been playing him very much.”