New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony has been suspended one game without pay for confronting Boston's Kevin Garnett in the arena tunnel, near the players' locker rooms, and in the parking garage following Monday's game against the Boston Celtics at Madison Square Garden.

The NBA announced the suspension on Wednesday. Anthony served the suspension Thursday, when the Knicks lost 81-76 to the Indiana Pacers.

"There are no circumstances in which it is acceptable for a player to confront an opponent after a game," NBA executive vice president basketball operations Stu Jackson said in a statement. "Carmelo Anthony attempted to engage with Kevin Garnett multiple times after Monday's game and therefore a suspension was warranted."

Anthony said before the suspension was announced that he did not believe he deserved to be disciplined.

"If you just go off the actual facts of what happened, I don't think anything will happen," Anthony said.

After he and Garnett were called for technical fouls for jawing at one another in the closing minutes of Monday's game, Anthony approached Garnett at the Celtics' team bus. Madison Square Garden security, New York City Police officers, team security and even Knicks coach Mike Woodson intervened before the incident could escalate.

Anthony said Tuesday that his "motivation" in finding Garnett after the game was to have a "one-on-one conversation" with him after the Boston big man spewed a verbal insult at Anthony.

"It's certain things that you just don't say to men, another man," Anthony said Tuesday. "I felt that he crossed the line. Like I said, we're both at an understanding right now; we handled it the way we handled it. Nobody needs to know what was said behind closed doors. So that situation is handled."