Marcus Smart’s suspension will keep the Houston Rockets guard out for three games, after the NBA punished him for throwing a punch at Golden State Warriors centre Charles Bassey.
The league suspended Smart for three games without pay “for throwing a punch that made contact with the face” of Bassey, Hoops Rumors reported, citing the NBA’s announcement on Thursday (US time). ESPN and AP also reported the ban.
The incident came with 21 seconds left in the third quarter of Wednesday’s game in Houston, which the Rockets won 115-108. Smart and Bassey had been exchanging words when Smart threw a right jab that appeared to graze Bassey’s nose. Bassey was not injured, Hoops Rumors reported.
Smart walked off the court before the play was reviewed, anticipating his ejection, ESPN’s Anthony Slater noted. He was assessed a flagrant 2 foul and thrown out of the game.
“[Bassey] said, ‘What you gonna do?’ And [Smart] did it,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said after the game, according to Sporting News.
Which games will Marcus Smart miss?
Smart’s suspension starts with Friday’s NBA Cup game against the Utah Jazz in Houston (US time). He will also miss Sunday’s game against the Washington Wizards and Monday’s game against the Miami Heat, and is in line to return against the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday.
The ban will cost Smart US$125,462 of his US$6,064,000 salary this season, ESPN’s Bobby Marks reported, while the Rockets receive a luxury-tax variance credit of US$62,731.
Read more: Stephen Curry Injury: Warriors Star Out at Least Two Weeks
The same game cost the Warriors Stephen Curry, who left in the first quarter and has since been ruled out for at least two weeks with an oblique abdominal tear.
Smart, a former NBA Defensive Player of the Year, joined the Rockets in the off-season and is averaging 8.3 points per game to start his Houston tenure, Sporting News reported. Before his NBA career, he served a three-game suspension at Oklahoma State for shoving a Texas Tech fan.
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