The NBA has suspended three players for their roles in the fracas between the Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks on Friday night. Suns center Jusuf Nurkic has been suspended for three games, Mavericks forward Naji Marshall has been suspended for four games and Mavs forward P.J. Washington has been suspended for one game, the league announced Saturday.
With 9:02 remaining in the first quarter, Nurkic committed an offensive foul. He appeared to elbow Dallas center Daniel Gafford in the face on the play, and Marshall appeared to take exception to this. Here is how the league describes what happened next in its press release:
Marshall and Nurkic then engaged in an on-court altercation. Nurkic escalated it by swinging his arm and striking Marshall on top of his head. Marshall responded by throwing a punch that connected with Nurkic’s face. As the officials and other players attempted to [defuse] the situation, Washington further escalated the altercation by shoving Nurkic to the floor. For their roles, Marshall, Nurkic and Washington were assessed technical fouls and ejected from the game.
Following the on-court incident, Marshall attempted to further engage Nurkic in a hostile manner in the corridor outside the locker rooms.
Dallas came out with a 98-89 win in Phoenix, but it will now be without Marshall, Washington and franchise player Luka Doncic when it visits the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday. Doncic will be out at least a month after straining his calf in the Mavs’ loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Christmas Day.
Nurkic will start serving his suspension on Saturday when Phoenix visits the Golden State Warriors. The Suns will also be without Devin Booker for that game; the star guard has been out since Dec. 19 due to a left groin strain.
