PHOENIX — A fracas between Dallas Mavericks players and Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkić turned physical in the second quarter of Friday’s game in Arizona, a conflict that resulted in three players getting ejected.
At the 9:02 mark of the second quarter, Nurkić was whistled for an offensive foul after he extended his left arm against Mavericks center Daniel Gafford’s head. Mavericks forward Naji Marshall reacted by standing chest to chest with Nurkić. Nurkić mushed Marshall’s head, and Marshall responded by throwing a right hook in Nurkić’s direction.
Mavericks forward P.J. Washington joined in, pushing Nurkić backwards. Officials ejected Nurkić, Marshall and Washington after video review.
“They were protecting each other,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said after his team’s 98-89 win. “That’s what that was. Emotions can get high.”
Jusuf Nurkić, Naji Marshall and PJ Washington have all been ejected from the Mavericks-Suns game.
Nurkić slapped Marshall in the head, Marshall threw a punch at Nurkić and Washington shoved Nurkić to the ground.
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Kyrie Irving, who led Dallas with 20 points, said afterward he would cover any fines Marshall and Washington receive.
“Moments like that, you just want everybody to be protecting themselves,” Irving said. “I feel like that’s what P.J. was doing for Naji. Naji after he got hit, he was just protecting himself. If we’re out on the street, even if we’re not playing basketball, you gotta put your hands up and at least swing back.”
The NBA has yet to announce if any of the three players who were ejected in Friday’s game will miss additional time. But NBA rules say that any player who throws a punch, whether it connects or not, will be suspended for a one-game minimum.
Marshall stepped into the starting lineup in place of the injured Luka Dončić, who is expected to miss at least one month with a calf strain, on Friday. The 26-year-old, not known for shying away from physical conflict during his NBA career, played 19 minutes before officials sent him off.
The Mavericks have a 7-2 record without Dončić this season. At 20-11, they are in fourth place in the West.
Mavericks backup guard Spencer Dinwiddie, who scored 15 points in the win, said he didn’t think Washington was going to be ejected. He changed his mind after watching instant replay of the altercation.
“The part I thought was funny was P.J. came to the bench and was like, ‘I just pushed him.’ In my head, I’m like, ‘He’s going to get a tech or whatever.’ Obviously, Naji and Nurkić had the main piece of the altercation,” he said. “Then you see the replay and you’re like, ‘He really pushed him.’ But I don’t think it was bad. He was trying to deescalate the situation and didn’t know his own strength.”
Suns forward Kevin Durant was one of the players on the floor when the situation escalated.
“That’s what happens when you compete, sometimes tempers flare up a little bit and you go overboard and then on the other side you try to protect yourself as well,” Durant said. “It’s an unfortunate situation, but I understood what Dallas was thinking, their perspective.”
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