New York ? Isiah Thomas avoided an NBA suspension, even though the league said Thursday there was contact between the New York Knicks coach and the official who threw him out of a game.

The league ruled the contact wasn’t initiated by Thomas, but accidentally created by official Eric Lewis while he was ejecting Thomas from Wednesday night’s game against Houston.

NBA spokesman Tim Frank called it “inadvertent contact from the official in signaling the technical foul.”

Thomas was tossed with 11:19 remaining in the Knicks’ 101-92 loss after he came onto the floor to yell at Lewis, claiming Rockets center Yao Ming should have been called for a three-second violation.

Though Thomas said he didn’t touch the official, they clearly made contact when Lewis was issuing Thomas’ first ejection of the season.